Sudden increase in Main Line burglaries has police searching for suspects, residents on edge

RADNOR TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Police say highly skilled thieves are targeting homes in and around the Main Line, scaling their way in through the second floor. Police say multiple homes have been hit in the last two weeks in Montgomery, Delaware and Chester counties.

Radnor has had three within five days October 22nd through the 27th. And, a fourth homeowner interrupted them.

Homes in Tredyffrin, Easttown, Newtown and Lower Merion have been hit, as well, by what may be the same crew.

The burglars have broken through the second floors of the homes, bypassing alarm systems, which may only be set up for the first floor, shimmying up drainpipes to get to master bedrooms and master closets, knowing that’s where valuables are often stored.

They have hit some jackpots.

October 22nd, during the Eagles game, two homes were hit. One suffered a loss of $160,000 and the other $48,000, with the burglars taking only untraceable jewelry, watches and a $12,000 designer purse and leaving electronics and cheaper jewelry behind and striking between 6 and 10 p.m.

A neighbor’s surveillance video captured a glimpse of the burglary crew as they cut through that property to get to the home, moving quickly in and out.

"They hit the house fast. They were wearing masks. They’re gloved up and they’re very smooth," Radnor Township Police Department Superintendent Christopher Flanagan explained. "We believe there’s at least three people involved. A drop-off car, and then one to two people who would attempt to enter a property. They definitely know what they’re looking at. They left jewelry that wasn’t of any value and picked high-end pieces."

He went on to say, "We do know that some of the local police departments in the Mina Line area are experiencing a sudden increase in burglaries such as ours in the same time frame, so we are suspect that they’re all the same."