NORTHVILLE TWP., Mich. (WXYZ) — An organized, international crime ring targeting high-end homes strikes again, this time in Northville Township.
From California to New York, Grosse Pointe to Bloomfield Hills, police say the thieves from South America are responsible for numerous break-ins, stealing millions of dollars worth of cash, jewelry, and other items.
We first told you about the investigation last year, which led to the creation of a local task force and the arrest of three Chilean nationals here on temporary visas.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard raised alarm bells earlier this week, saying the crews were back again in the area.
On Friday, Northville Township Police also spoke out, urging the public to be on high alert after several incidents in the Wayne County community that they believe are connected.
One of the more recent incidents from late March was caught on a home surveillance camera in a Northville Township backyard.
“We don't want to be living in fear right? And it's every day now,” said resident Thomas Close, who lives near the home recently targeted. "It's very unsettling, I don't think anyone wants to live under the threat of someone coming into your home.”
Close says it's not the first time he and his neighbors have been targeted. One home was broken into last year, and in February a truck was seen in his driveway, slowly circling as someone filmed his home out an open window. Just last week, a neighbor also captured video of a different car doing the same outside another home on the street.
"They’ll drive through our small subdivision with their windows partially down filming with their video camera,” Close explained. “In our case, they tend to come by and case the house just before they attempt the robbery.”
Northville Township Deputy Police Chief Matthew Mackenzie says so far 5 Northville homes have been targeted, with hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen. They believe it’s the same organized group connected to high-end home break-ins in Oakland County and beyond.
“We're confident it's a group organized out of South America and they're here targeting those high-end homes,” Deputy Chief Mackenzie said. "It's nationwide, it's not just southeast Michigan or this region. It's California, New York, it's all over the country.”
Mackenzie says the thieves typically break in from backyards, quickly looking for jewelry cash, and other valuables. They survey the neighborhoods before the crime looking for empty homes, then striking at night.
“Our guess is they don't want to encounter a homeowner so they want to watch the house, make sure no one is home, maybe they're on vacation and then that's the home they want to target,” Mackenzie explained. "We want to have high visibility patrols... These people want to work in the dark, so if we can saturate our subdivisions during the nighttime we can deter that from happening here.”
Luckily, the homeowner targeted last week in Northville told us they had been on vacation, but just returned before the attempted break-in. Police believe their presence surprised the suspects and caused them to run off before breaking into the home. Police and neighbors urge everyone to be on alert.
"We want everyone to know to be on high alert and look out for these things, look out for someone perhaps driving through your neighborhood taking pictures of homes, just odd behavior you have,” Close said. “We have motion lights out, we have our cameras on all day and all night now, and were staying in constant communication via text with the neighbors if they see anything unusual."
"We want our residents to be vigilant and partners in our safety,” Mackenzie said. "If you see something in your neighborhood that looks like it doesn't belong, the car continually passing by a house, that should be a clue something is going on. Give us a call, it doesn't take anything for us to come out and check it out.”
Police say the best ways to prevent this is to keep some lights on at night, don't let mail pile up, don't leave garbage cans out at the road, and don't post on social media when you’re going out of town.
