Jan 16, 2008 11:30 pm US/Eastern
Thieves Targeting Pricey Items Inside Shore Homes
OCEAN CITY, N.J. (CBS 3) ―
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Big screen, flat screen and plasma TV's are quickly disappearing from homes at the Jersey Shore.
CBS
Police in several shore communities are searching for a gang of burglars who area targeting pricey items inside numerous beach houses.
Police said there is no sign of forced entry and fear the thieves may be getting their hands on realtor or builder keys.
Big screen, flat screen and plasma TV's are quickly disappearing from homes at the Jersey Shore.
Thieves are running rampant and are targeting empty beach block and bay front homes.
Police said the burglars are carefully ripping big TV's off the wall without leaving a scratch, and are right now getting away with the crime.
"Pretty bold actions, it would absolutely take at least two, maybe three people to take them off the wall," said Lt. Jay Prettyman of the Ocean City Police Department.
"It's probably taking place during the day time with people either posing as construction workers or maybe they are construction workers," said Lt. Prettyman.
As many as 20 shore properties have been targeted in Ocean City, and 10 homes have been hit in Sea Isle City since September.
"With the amount of construction in town, it's just not suspicious for a van to pull up to a house and a couple of guys inside and then come out a short time later," explained Lt. Prettyman.
Police believe the crooks are armed with stolen or copied keys and perhaps specifics on where to find TV's inside, from realty web sites.
"When we give out these keys, it's not blindly, we take their driver's license," said Bill McGinn of Remax Realty Sea Isle.
One Sea Isle City homeowner recently found out five TV's had been stolen when a potential renter on a walk-thru noticed the home had none.
Another Sea Isle City homeowner just replaced a 42-inch TV stolen from his den.
"If somebody sees some hot TV items, you might know where they came from and maybe it will generate a phone call," McGinn said.
Lt. Prettyman said police are checking eBay as well as pawn shops for any potential leads.
Authorities are encouraging homeowners to change their locks and perhaps install alarm systems.
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