20th home burglarized in Oakland

Marking the 20th burglary in the Oakland area this semester, an unknown person entered a home in the 3400 block of Parkview Avenue over the weekend, stealing a laptop and other personal items.

Similar to the previous incidents, the intruder acted late on a weekend night, entering the Parkview home between 10:30 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday, according to a crime alert that the Pitt police issued.

Although one resident was home during the burglary, they told police they did not hear anyone entering the home. Police reported that the intruder entered through the home’s unlocked front door. The intruder stole several items from the home, including a laptop and headphones, according to the Department of Public Safety’s Public Information Officer Sonya Toler. No one was injured during the robbery.

Toler said the residents of the Parkview home are Pitt students and said there are no leads, suspects or suspect descriptions for the incident. Police similarly have little to no information about the other burglaries.

Of the 20 burglaries, only one has yielded a suspect description. Police described the possible suspect in a Nov. 10 burglary on Ward Street as a black male, about 6-foot, 20 to 25 years of age with a slender build and short, curly, dread-like hair.

At this point, 18 of the burglaries have occurred since Oct. 9, including four on Ward Street, three in the 300 block of Semple Street and two on Meyran Avenue. The most recent burglaries occurred in the late hours of Nov. 10, and the early hours of Nov. 11 — less than two hours apart — in the 3400 and 3200 blocks of Ward. In addition, two burglaries appeared in the media logs but not in the crime alerts — which are currently the only method of crime notification for the Pitt community. These burglaries occurred just before 10 p.m. on Nov. 10 in the 400 block of Atwood Street and just before midnight on Nov. 10 in the 3700 block of Ward.   

With the exception of the Nov. 10 burglary in the 3400 block of Ward, most of the burglary victims were either not home or were sleeping when the intruder entered the home. In all of the incidents, police believe the intruder entered through an unsecured door or window. No injuries have been reported in connection with the burglaries.

Joe Miksch, a Pitt spokesperson, told The Pitt News in an email earlier this month that Pitt police are “continuing targeted patrols in the area.” No arrests have been made in connection with any of the burglaries, and Toler said there is no way to know at this point in the investigation whether or not the burglaries are linked.

“While the police are actively investigating and have focused patrols in the area, there is a need for college students to take an active role in prevention by keeping doors and windows locked,” Toler said in an email on Sunday.

The police departments are asking that anyone with information regarding the incidents call the Pittsburgh Police Department at 412-422-6520 or Pitt police at 412-624-2121.