Early Wednesday morning, a Bargersville woman woke up to find a man standing in her bedroom doorway.
When she called out to him, thinking it was her son, the man ran out the back door. That report was one of three burglaries or attempted break-ins reported to Bargersville police early Wednesday morning.
Investigators don’t know if the three reports are related, but they all happened within a five-hour span and were within about a half-mile of each other, Bargersville Police Department detective Steve Byerly said.
Police are investigating and are not sure if the same person or people were responsible, he said.
The first call came from a home on Old Plank Road. Just before 1:30 a.m., a resident called police and said she woke up to find a man standing in her bedroom doorway, according to the police report.
After the man ran out the back door of the home, the residents realized that cash, a camera, prescription medication and a lighter had been stolen, the report said. Later Wednesday, a resident found the camera in a dumpster behind a restaurant, and police are testing it for fingerprints or DNA, along with a cigarette and tissue paper found in the home, the report said.
A police dog was unable to track the suspect, the report said.
At 3:10 a.m., police were called to a home on West Street, where a resident had woken up to find a man on his back porch. The man then ran and jumped the back fence. A police dog was not able to pick up a scent, but police did find a bike across the street, and are testing it for fingerprints and DNA, the report said.
And then at 5:14 a.m., police were called to a home on East Street, where a man found a screen had been cut to his garage and his gun safe, with a handgun and a rifle, were missing, the report said.
Police found the safe nearby, but the guns were gone. The safe is being tested for fingerprints and DNA, the report said.
Near that home, police officers found two men walking in the street, who said they were going home, the report said. Police do not know if those men were involved in any of the thefts, Byerly said.
Investigators are not sure if the three burglaries or attempted break-ins are related, but are looking into that angle since all three happened in the old section of the town. But residents’ descriptions of the man they saw don’t match, and don’t match the men walking in the neighborhood, Byerly said.
Police have collected evidence and will likely increase patrols to watch for anything suspicious, Byerly said.
If any residents notice thefts or have experienced a break-in but not reported it, they are asked to contact Bargersville police at 317-422-1222.
