It appears a string of brazen home burglaries in and around Mira Mesa is growing. The number has topped 20, and police responded to another one Thursday night.
NBC 7 spoke with the 80-year-old victim who surprised the bandit when he broke into her home.
“It was smashed real well. The cops told me they probably used a big rock and throw,“ the victim, who wishes to be identified as only Nan, said.
The slider in the back of the house may be replaced, but the octogenarian won’t soon forget why.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
“I heard the explosion noise real loud. I thought the roof caved in,“ Nan said.
Previous coverage:
Nan says a burglar made his way from the front yard and through a gate to her back door on Jade Coast Road in Mira Mesa around 8 p.m. Thursday. He wasn’t counting on her being home.
“I jumped out of my bedroom and just at the door, looked toward the kitchen over here, and I saw a face," Nan said. “It was dark. I didn’t turn on the light. It was very dark. It looked like just a boy."
Nan called 911. When police arrived, they were concerned the burglar might still be in the house, so instead of going through her bedroom door, she went through her bedroom window on the side of the house. They helped pull her through and brought her to her neighbor’s home, where she waited until they got the all clear.
As of March 25, a San Diego police spokesperson tells NBC 7 they are now working more than 20 burglaries in Mira Mesa, Rancho Peñasquitos and Rancho Bernardo. They all appear to be related.
On Feb. 25, a Mira Mesa husband and father, who wished not to be identified, had family heirloom jewelry and guns, some of the assault-style rifles, stolen. The burglars simply dragged the safe out of the house while they were at dinner.
“I feel as a father, I failed to protect them, protect their privacy, violated our safe place” the husband and father said.
There were five burglars, and one waved at the security camera as they broke into another Mira Mesa home on Pisces Way. There were three houses hit that same night.
The suspects wore hoodies and masks. They used similar methods and all were identified as young men.
Nan came to the U.S. from Thailand to go to college but stayed for the next 54 years. This is the first such experience here.
“I never known. I thought this was a very peaceful place,” Nan said.
San Diego police are asking residents in the area to continue submitting tips and any suspicious activity in their neighborhoods to police or Crime Stoppers.
