Published on: Wednesday, November 10, 2010

By Jeffrey Benzing

Burglaries are down in Hyattsville, following the arrest of a man Hyattsville police report is connected with several local break-ins.

“The magnitude of the burglaries has dropped significantly,” Sgt. Chris Purvis said. “There’s a few random ones that we don’t think are related.”

Officers arrested Markeet Johnson Oct. 13 during a brief pursuit after they responded to a burglary in progress.

Johnson, who is about 20 years old, according to police, is from the Hyattsville area but has a Washington, D.C. address.

Police said they are looking for at least two more persons of interest in a string of burglaries they believe are related.

“Nobody’s ever seen them. We’re just getting information secondhand,” Sgt. Suzie Johnson said.

After being arrested, police said Johnson took them around to several houses he is suspected of breaking into. Police are now checking phone records and recent pawn slips to track down his suspected accomplices.

Police said burglaries had previously been as high as six in one week—even six in one day. Police are not sure which burglaries are related but have said burglaries are now down to one or two a week.

Many of the burglaries happened between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“One house that got hit, actually three neighbors were home,” Purvis said. “Nobody heard or saw anything.”

Purvis said many of the houses hit had obstructions that prevented anyone from the street from seeing suspected burglars, even by the front door.

Being proactive, he said, can help reduce the likelihood of crime.

Meeting neighbors and having them look out for you is one tip. Another is making sure that doors and windows are closed and locked. Burglars often break through screens, Purvis said.

Another tip Purvis called “crime prevention through environmental design.”

“We recommend people planting rose bushes beneath their windows so nobody will try to climb in — unless they want to get stuck with a sticker,” he said.

Local residents can call the Hyattsville Police Department at 301-985-5060 to schedule a free crime prevention survey and can log on to crimereports.com to see recent activity in their neighborhoods.