The sight of a burglar at the foot of her bed in the middle of the night was a nightmare for Simone Johnson. But she was not dreaming.

The intruder, it seemed, had not come to harm Johnson at all. It was her purse and debit card he was after, and that’s what he took shortly before fleeing on foot with an accomplice waiting outside in a vehicle.

About 60 of Johnson’s neighbors listened in disbelief Monday during a Neighborhood Watch gathering at Episcopal Church of the Epiphany as she told about her up-close and personal encounter with an unwelcome visitor.

Advertisement

“My mistake was not locking my bedroom door,” Johnson said. “Y’all need to lock your bedroom doors.”

The gathering was the first of its kind for the neighborhood — an affluent part of town not far from City Park encompassed by Country Club Drive and Edgewater Drive — and was prompted by a series of increasingly frequent burglaries that has left residents angry and desperate for solutions.

And though none of the neighbors’ stories was quite as horrifying as Johnson’s, many residents said they have been victim to the same brazen style of burglary in recent weeks.

A review of police records reveals an alarming trend for these residents. At least 18 burglaries were committed or attempted in or near the neighborhood this year. Seven occurred in the month of October alone — the most in any month by far.

Authorities and residents caution those figures could be grossly understated as attempted burglaries and minor thefts sometimes go unreported.

The struggle in Johnson’s neighborhood could represent just the tip of the iceberg at a time when other areas of the city also have been increasingly afflicted by waves of burglary.

Residents of the Spanish Lake Estates neighborhood have voiced similar concerns and met Saturday for a neighborhood watch barbecue.

It remains unclear whether the break-ins in either neighborhood are related, authorities said, but police records show the burglaries bear some similarities. Vehicles, for the most part, have borne the brunt of the burglaries as several guns, GPS devices and other valuables have been stolen.

The house burglaries and attempted break-ins occurred mostly at night, and many residents said they were home at the time.

Mayor Hilda Curry, also a resident in the Country Club Drive area, has endured two attempted break-ins of late. She and her family were awakened about three weeks ago by the sound of someone pulling on the back and front doors of their home.

Struggling to gain entry, the would-be burglars retrieved a hammer and a set of lock pliers from an outdoor storage area, which they then used in the unsuccessful break-in, Curry said.

Police, city response

Michael S. Lamperez, a resident who organized the neighborhood’s meet-and-greet Monday, has gathered contact information from dozens of his neighbors and is banking on better communication to help prevent further burglaries. 

“We don’t communicate nearly enough,” Lamperez said Monday, “and I think that’s part of the problem.”

The next step to securing the neighborhood, Lamperez said, is striking the right balance among residents, police and city officials.

The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office has received several complaints regarding the burglaries and has responded by increasing its presence in the neighborhood.

Units patrol the streets more frequently, often undercover, said Quinton Adcock, a city liaison to the Sheriff’s Office. But authorities have identified few suspects thus far, Adcock said.

Meanwhile, deputies have picked up on a pattern in the burglaries and tailored their patrols accordingly, concentrating the most presence between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., when many burglaries have taken place.

Overall, Adcock said the Sheriff’s Office is better equipped today to respond to burglaries than this time a year ago.

He said as many as 29 deputies might be on patrol on a typical day now, while the norm last November might have been closer to 11.

What about force?

But residents said they do not want to rely on deputies alone in deterring burglaries. Many in attendance Monday asked law enforcement officials if they would be legally justified in shooting burglars if they caught them in the act.

“I’m a firm believer in the Second Amendment,” Lamperez said. “If you come in my house, you’re getting shot.”

Adcock, who said he has more than 10 years experience in Neighborhood Watch, warned them to refrain from opening fire and urged residents interested in acquiring guns to attend training sessions before doing so.

City Councilwoman Therese Segura, whose district includes both the Country Club Drive and Spanish Lake Estates neighborhoods, said the city is exploring a few options to improve security.

Additional lighting is one idea that’s been tossed around, but Curry cautioned that might be more easily said than done.

“We can’t just put lights anywhere,” Curry said. “We have certain guidelines and ordinances to follow.”

Other residents suggested implementing a gated community, which officials said would be complicated by the neighborhood’s four entrances.

In the meantime, Adcock said there are several measures residents can take to safeguard their property. Locking doors may seem like a no-brainer, he said, but some of the burglaries have involved unlocked vehicles.

But more than anything he emphasized the need for communication among residents.

“There used to be a time when you brought a pie to a new neighbor,” Adcock said.