In an unusual twist, a series of house burglaries in a northwest Santa Rosa neighborhood also involve setting two of the homes on fire, Santa Rosa police said Tuesday.
Five burglaries have occurred in the Coffey Park neighborhood since early April. In two of them, including one late Saturday night, arson was a factor, Sgt. Mike Lazzarini said.
While house burglaries are commonplace, one coupled with arson is rare.
"We don't have these," said Lazzarini. "That's a whole different level of burglary."
A $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest is being offered by a business group, the Sonoma County Alliance.
The only description police have is that a man, 40 to 50 years old in light-colored clothing, was seen pounding on the front door of a Hopper Avenue home on April 20. A short time later that house was on fire and had been burglarized.
The five houses targeted are within blocks of each other in the neighborhood north of Piner Road and Coffey Lane.
The crimes occurred both in the day and night, but items taken from each home are similar and other undisclosed details are common from case to case, said Lazzarini.
The burglary losses and fire damage have been significant.
The first burglary was April 5 at a home on Holly Park Way during the day when no one was home.
On April 16, residents were home on Camino del Prado when someone stole items from their garage late that night. They discovered the losses early the next morning.
Two homes were hit on April 20.
At about 1 p.m. a Coffey Lane resident came home to find a burglary had occurred.
At about 4 p.m., neighbors called to report a Hopper Avenue home was on fire. After the fire was out, residents realized they also were missing household items. Santa Rosa firefighters determined the cause was arson, and the initial damage estimate was $75,000.
Lazzarini asked the public for help in solving the crimes.
"We want to get information out to the public to be vigilant in regards to who is in the neighborhood," Lazzarini said.
He asked anyone with information to contact Detective Chris O'Neill or Patricia Seffens at 543-3575.
You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.
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