Kiryat Sefer Residents Take Action And Apprehend Suspects After Multiple Thefts In Recent Days

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Angry residents of the Brechfeld neighborhood in Kiryat Sefer  decided to organize their own patrols in an attempt to catch thieves who have broken into tens of apartments in recent days. On Monday night the residents themselves apprehended two suspects, local Arabs, who were caught redhanded trying to enter an apartment in the town. The suspects were caught after a chase through different courtyards. “It was a crazy drama,” an eyewitness said. “Residents said that they had seen figures and they thought it might be a terror attack.” Police and local volunteers chased the two until they were caught and taken for interrogation.

The thieves have been entering ground floor apartments during the night when people are asleep and taking numerous items of worth, leaving residents with a sense of insecurity and despair at the police inability to catch the thieves. On many occasions the thieves come on Friday night, presuming that residents will not call the police by phone.

Last Friday night the house of S. was broken into. S. told the Chareidim-10 site that “they broke in quietly through the kitchen via a sliding door. They came even though our family was home. I woke at 3:30 A.M. and heard footsteps. My kids wake up at night and I thought it was them, I didn’t think it was thieves.

“They put out the candles and took the candlesticks, menorah, cups -all the valuables in the showcase. They took a wallet with money and credit cards.

“They go from house to house. Yesterday they were at the neighbor opposite, two days ago at an adjacent courtyard. Yesterday I told my neighbor that I’m afraid I’m the next in line.

“A neighbor saw them, said he saw three hooded people on the street. I said ‘Why didn’t you do anything.’ He said: ‘I waited to see if they were going into any house and suddenly they disappeared.”

It is unclear whether the thieves are Jewish or Arab but S. is convinced that they are Arabs who crossed the nearby fence between Arab villages and Kiryat Sefer. “Its a miracle they are just thieves, if it were a nationalist attack I don’t want to think what could happen. The fence is open in hundreds of places. At least there should be a security company patrolling and security cameras.”

S. says that he took it lightly but his wife is traumatized and afraid to be alone at home. “You’re afraid to leave town, you’re afraid to leave your house,” he adds. “If this is the damage when I was home, who could imagine what would have happened if I wasn’t home. They could have emptied the entire house.”

In some cases thieves returned to the same houses again. S. says that “you’re afraid to leave the house at night but you’re also afraid to sleep. All the time you are thinking: “Will they come, won’t they come.”

The burglars are not restricted to Brechfeld and have broken in to apartments around the entire town, which numbers close to 100,000 residents.

In response to complaints by residents, police responded that “the Israeli police are working at all hours of the day to ensure the safety of citizens. Police call upon residents to arrive at the police station and register complaints as required.”