A crafty burglar is using potted plants to plot burglary targets in Lakewood, DallasNews.com reports.
An Old Lake Highlands resident almost ran over lawn ornaments placed in her driveway. She said she was surprised to see them and thought someone might have left them as a gift. She moved them to her yard only to discover later that they had been removed.
A crime watch e-mail has notified residents in the area of a theory that burglars are moving potted plants and lawn ornaments as a way to see who may be home and who may be on vacation.
Obviously, a homeowner paying attention would move their ornaments back to their proper location -- homes that have plants that haven't been moved could then be burglarized without much worry of running in to the homeowner, police said.
Dep. Chief Tom Lawrence with the Dallas police said if residents notice a neighbors property moved that it would be advisable to move it back. Aside from helping a neighbor, a robbery could also be curtailed since the criminals would then know that someone was paying attention to the area.
Police met with the neighborhood crime watch group Tuesday to further eduate the residents on crime prevention.
So far, no arrests have been made in connection with the string of burglaries in the area.
