By Kelsey Durham
A newly discovered burglary trend has Fresh Meadows residents fearing that their neighborhood has become a target for crime.
Peter Hart, who owns a home on 183rd Street between 75th Avenue and Union Turnpike, was barbecuing in his backyard last weekend when he discovered a piece of tape stuck to a window on the back side of his house.
“I looked up and saw this black electrical tape, about 2 inches long, on the molding strip around the window and thought it was kind of weird,” he said. “I haven’t had any contractors around and I know I didn’t go out there, so I thought, ‘What the heck is going on?’”
Curious about who could have put the strip of tape on his window, Hart said he typed the finding into an Internet search bar in hopes of getting an explanation.
To his surprise, he found several pages of results from people across the country saying they had heard of burglars putting tape on doors and windows of houses in an attempt to find out if the homeowners were in town or away on vacation.
“If they still see it there after a day or two, I guess they go and rob the place,” said Jim Hopke, vice president of the Utopia Estates Civic Association.
Hart said he called the 107th Police Precinct and explained his odd discovery to an officer, who told him the department had heard of tape being placed on doors, not windows, and described the incident as “strange.”
He said the officer told him the precinct would step up its patrol in the area near 183rd Street, but the possibility of burglars targeting the area has caused some concern.
“I thought it was kind of arrogant for someone to just come into my backyard,” Hart said.
Hart said he has begun taking extra security measures at his home, even contacting his alarm company about possibly getting security cameras set up outside the property.
“I’m sure if someone wants to come in, they’re going to come in,” he said. “But we want as many deterrents as possible.”
He said he also has started letting neighbors and civic associations know that the area could be the most recent destination for burglars and advising them that if they find electrical or painters tape anywhere on their homes and do not know where it came from to call the police.
“We’re asking people to be vigilant,” Hopke said.
Reach reporter Kelsey Durham at 718-260-4573 or by e-mail at kdurham@cnglocal.com.
