THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512160257
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Burglars with discriminating taste and apparently little lust for money have been hitting homes in northern Isle of Wight County almost as fast as the Sheriff's Department can investigate.
On Friday, police learned that the burglaries had spilled into neighboring Surry County, bringing to 20 what appeared to be related incidents this month. Missing items read like the ``Twelve Days of Christmas'': one gold chain, a few handguns, a small camera here and there, several silver coins, candy and an entire cheesecake - the box for which the burglars neatly returned to the refrigerator.
They weren't so neat in the rest of the houses, Isle of Wight Sheriff's investigator C.B. Nurney said.
``These are not your typical burglaries,'' he said Friday. ``They go in, rummage through everything, dump stuff in the floor, take nothing of any real value.''
The burglars have shunned camcorders, VCRs, televisions, expensive guns - typical targets of burglars - and have taken small, appealing items like the cheesecake.
``In one house last night, they left $20 bills laying on the floor,'' he said. They smashed two 55-gallon aquariums, one with a liquor bottle, in another house.
And they have made a mess, said Michele Murphy, who lives on Battery Park Road, near Smithfield.
``A couple of presents that were under the tree had been ripped open; the fish tanks were smashed - all of that water in our den - they had gone through dresser drawers, ransacked closets, turned everything over,'' Murphy said. ``They took a fire extinguisher and went through the house, covering everything with foam.''
There was even more vandalism in the home of Nell Thacker, who also lives just outside Smithfield. Her home was broken into Thursday, probably between 8 a.m. and noon.
``They took nothing, just destroyed the inside of the house,'' Thacker said. ``They are apparently not interested in stealing. They smashed two televisions and a VCR, ripped off two closet doors, took the mattress off of a bed and threw it in the floor, opened all of the Christmas presents.
``I even had a pile of Christmas cards, ready to mail. Those were ripped in half.''
In Isle of Wight, the burglaries occurred in Smithfield, Morgart's Beach, Carrollton and near the Surry County line.
The story in nearby Surry has been much the same, Sheriff H.D. Brown said Friday.
``We had three yesterday afternoon,'' Brown said. ``We're going to get with Isle of Wight. I'm quite sure it's going to be the same people. The investigation is a joint effort.''
Meanwhile, Nurney has been working almost around the clock.
``I hope they catch them, and I hope it's quick,'' Thacker said. ``I had much rather they had come in and taken what they wanted. It is so senseless to destroy everything someone has.''
Although the vandalism appears similar to that which happened in Southern Isle of Wight, near Windsor, about two weeks ago - when an elderly woman's house was ripped apart - Nurney said he was certain there was no connection.
In that incident, two men are charged with breaking and entering and destroying property.
Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call Isle of Wight Crime Line at 357-5555.
KEYWORDS: BURGLARY by CNB