“I feel anxious every time I enter the house,” he said. “I feel like I want to hurt this person.”
Kibby has lived on Anoka Street in the Northridge neighborhood since 1972. He said it seems like crime “has been getting worse for a while.”
His home was first burglarized about a week before Christmas. Then it was hit again on Sept. 24. In each case, the person or people responsible struck during the day. And it seems like they went straight for the bedroom.
Crime statistics reviewed by the Springfield News-Sun show an uptick in crime in the Northridge area. According to data provided by Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly, 534 crime reports were filed from the start of the year through Aug. 31. That compares to 490 filed through the same time period in 2012.
But arrest numbers are also up. There were 46 more arrests — 182 this year vs. 136 a year ago. Across Clark County, Kelly said total arrests are up 27 percent compared to last year.
Sgt. Mike Young, of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, said the uptick is likely due to “crimes of opportunity.” He said most are minor thefts, which he speculated are likely done in order to feed a drug habit.
Vehicle break-ins have been common, he said.
“I would not say that we have an increase — as far as the Northridge area — in home burglaries,” Young said. “We don’t have a lot of violent crimes involving that area.
“These people are not being specifically targeted,” he added.
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