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Police: Thieves cutting power to burglarize homes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thieves are targeting homes with breaker boxes outside.

Police are telling neighbors to watch out after a rash of break-ins in the Plaza-Midwood area.

The thief cuts the power and then is able to bypass many home alarm systems. A victim said because of the older homes in the area, many of the breaker boxes are outside.

Andrea Acosta got a call when she was out of town that her home had been broken into.

"There have been several break-ins around the area, so they think it's the same person," Acosta said.

Shutting off the power allowed the person to go in undetected, take what they want and get out before getting caught. Acosta said it's been a wake-up call.

"A little disheartening around the holidays, but it was the best case scenario," Acosta said. "None of us were home so none of us got hurt."

Eyewitness News met with the new neighborhood association president. She said there hasn't been a large uptick in break-ins, but she wants neighbors to look out for each other.

"I would recommend to people if they can move their circuit box inside or put a security light [in] or simply try to be more aware of what's going on," Leslie Sykes said.