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Burlgars Disabling Alarms, Cleaning Out Homes In Marquette Park

CHICAGO (CBS) -- They strike in the middle of the day. They break in and clean you out.

One quiet Chicago neighborhood is living that scenario. It's seeing a rash of home burglaries.

A police says there appears to be a recent spike in the Marquette Park and Chicago Lawn area.

A posting on the website Everyblock.com says thieves have been breaking into homes.  In some cases, they've even cut phone lines and disabled alarm systems to steal property.

The victim list grows.  Sam Jackson pointed out the hit list.

"This one next door to me, and the two on the end of this block, and one on 72nd," he said. 

He also told us the family next door moved out after they were hit twice in three weeks. There's another "two-strike-house" just one block over. 

"I was very angry," said owner Nathaniel Jones. "They took flat screen TVs, jewelry, money, clothes, shoes."

Jones showed where the burglars kicked in the door he had to fix himself.  He says one of the only valuable things they left was his computer, but they took his monitor, so he can't use it. 

"I can't afford another one," Jones said.

Maybe he doesn't have the cash because he has to put money into an alarm system now.

"I just hope they catch them," Jones said. "Because my little daughter, she's scared to come home."

The alarm man at his house said if you have a wireless system, it will transmit break-in trouble even if a land line is cut.

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