Pendleton sees uptick in residential burglaries
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Pendleton police officers are seeing an increase in residential burglaries. Chief Chuck Byram said the recent ones are particularly hard to solve because the residents were not at home for an extended period of time.
“The properties were identified by the criminal element, obviously, of being unoccupied,” Byram said. “There were cleaned out and really not noticed for a substantial period of time.”
Byram said if there’s a delay in reporting the crime, the burglars have more time to cash in on the property they’ve taken. That makes it harder for police to follow the clues when they investigate.
“If people are going to be away for an extended period of time, to either contact friends or family to look over the residence, or you can contact us and we can put you on our extra patrol list,” he said.
Notifying neighbors that residents will be gone is also a deterrent. “If they see someone coming or going from the house or they hear something, then they can call us,” he said. “See something, say something, and we will come.”
