
DATE: Saturday, November 8, 1997            TAG: 9711080309

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   57 lines

BURGLARIES OF MEDICAL OFFICES IN TWO CITIES SIMILAR, POLICE SAY

Burglars have robbed at least 23 medical offices in Chesapeake and 18 in Norfolk in the last month, police say.

But the burglars aren't stealing the obvious loot in a doctor's office - prescription drugs or medical equipment, said Norfolk Detective Brett Johnson. They've taken only cash - at least $4,500 in Chesapeake and about that much in Norfolk - as well as checks and postage stamps.

Police don't have a suspect, said Chesapeake Detective John Crimmins. But police have produced a sketch of a man seen leaving a Chesapeake office building around the time of one of the robberies. That man was seen in an old gray Volvo station wagon.

The Chesapeake burglaries were near Chesapeake General Hospital, Crimmins said. The burglaries took place in doctors' offices surrounding the hospital and a few blocks north on Battlefield Boulevard, he added.

All of the Norfolk break-ins took place in a medical tower in the 400 block of Gresham Road near Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Johnson said.

Police have not found any signs of forced entry in the outside entrances to the medical buildings, Crimmins said. But inside doors to individual offices have been broken into.

Burglaries in both cities began in mid-September, Crimmins said. The most recent one occurred in late October. Police believe the burglaries are related.

``We're almost positive it's the same people,'' Johnson said. ``We (Johnson and Crimmins) couldn't believe it when we talked. We were talking about another case and happened to mention these, and we started comparing notes and they're just about exactly the same.''

Police also believe the burglar is just one person, rather than a ring.

``Everything they've taken has been something one person could carry,'' Johnson said. ``Whoever it is knows what they're looking for. They're specifically looking for money. Normally I would say it would be the dope, but there's no sign they tried to break into the pharmacy, no vandalism.''

Medical offices that want to guard against break-ins should keep petty cash in a safe, Johnson said.

``A safe doesn't guarantee it 100 percent, but it takes a lot of time and effort, and they don't usually want to spend that much time,'' Johnson said.

``They don't want to spend two hours in an office if they know that security and cleaning crews are around.''

Crimmins also recommends using deadbolt locks on all doors.

The nature of the burglaries makes them difficult to solve, Crimmins said.

``They've mostly taken cash, which makes it hard to trace,'' he explained. ILLUSTRATION: This is a likeness of a possible suspect being sought

in Chesapeake and Norfolk in the burglaries of doctors' offices.

TO HELP

Anyone with information

about this case is asked to

call Chesapeake's Crime Line at 487-1234. KEYWORDS: BURGLARY