Hillsdale’s wave of house burglaries continued to escalate while students were away on break.
During the week of Nov. 14, five houses were burglarized in Hillsdale. One of them belongs to Marie-Claire Morellec, professor of French. Since then, home burglaries have stayed common in Hillsdale.
In mid-December, the house of Joanna Wiseley’s neighbor was burglarized. Wiseley’s grandparents, who live across the street from the burglarized house, saw “a man in sweats” approach its side door. They thought nothing of it and returned to what they were doing.
That man, after finding the side door locked, entered through an unlocked window. When he exited through the same window, he took a laptop, some jewelry, and a large jar filled with change.
After hearing about the burglary, Wiseley’s neighborhood held a meeting and organized a neighborhood watch. Wiseley said she is confident the police will catch the man and said she “still feels safe.”
“[The burglary] doesn’t freak me out because I work during the day and I own a dog,” said Wiseley, director of Career Services. “I still feel safe, especially with the neigh- borhood watch going on.”
The Jackson Citizen Patriot reported on Jan. 20 that a few weeks earlier in Hillsdale, a man posing as a police officer approached a house, warned its residents to lock their doors, and then later returned and entered through an unlocked door.
The man began rummaging through drawers when a woman, still inside the house with children, called 911. He fled before police arrived.
The police released a composite sketch of the burglar. He is black, about 6 feet 3 inches tall, and between 40 and 50 years old. He is balding and has a looped earring in his right ear.
The Morellec burglary was also unsuccessful, though the burglar remains at large. After entering the home, he began placing Morellec’s possessions into a cardboard box. Morellec’s neighbors spotted the man and called police.
Something tipped off the would-be burglar and he fled the house before police arrived, but not, however, before leav- ing behind the cardboard box full of Morellec’s things.
At the time police suspected the intruder of having commit- ted at least four other burglar- ies. He is now suspected of more than a dozen.
Police are urging city residents to make sure their houses are secure and to report any suspicious activity.
“The more quickly we get the call, the quicker we can actually apprehend someone,” Detective Brad Martin told The Collegian on Dec. 1.
Hillsdale Public Safety’s phone number is 517-437- 6460.
