JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A brazen home burglary in broad daylight has left some residents in Jacksonville’s Miramar neighborhood on-edge.
It happened Tuesday afternoon at a house on Alhambra Drive in an area that’s well-known as a quiet part of Jacksonville. Homeowner Kathryn Bissette said she had come home and discovered that someone shattered a large glass door that separates her bedroom from the backyard.
“Glass was all over the bedroom. The drawers were open. Everything was upturned throughout the house,” she said.
Instead of taking electronics, the thief or thieves stole family heirlooms.
“There were items that were special to me that they took. Family jewelry that is irreplaceable and that’s heartbreaking, but the damage to our home is even more upsetting,” Bissette said.
She and her husband have lived here for more than a decade and never worried about their home being broken into because of the neighborhoods reputation for being a safe community. But now, Bissette believes she and her husband may have been watched before their home was burglarized.
The burglary happened sometime between 3 and 5 p.m. The person or people responsible appear to have either gone through a gate or climbed over a fence.
“This is a neighborhood in which everybody looks out for each other,” said resident Debbie Gunnlaugsson. “So that’s what makes this so scary is that with all of us knowing each other and looking out for each other, this can still happen.”
Crime appears to be so rare in the area that according to JSO’s crime mapping tool, the burglary at the home was the only thing in the area reported in the past four weeks.
The homeowner says she plans to have a security system installed. She’s encouraging her neighbors to report anything suspicious.