Three apartments were burglarized Monday at Northgate Lakes apartment complex, according to Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
Five residents had items stolen in the break-ins, the sheriff’s office report says. The items stolen totaled to be about $5,815.
The report says that an unknown person entered these apartments between midnight and 8 a.m. on Monday through unlocked front doors while the residents were sleeping.
Kelly Bourne, one of the victims of the burglaries, said that she had items totaling to be worth over $3,000 stolen, not including the sentimental value.
Her wallet, PlayStation 4, Nikon D40X Digital SLR camera and Macbook Pro laptop were among the stolen items. She said she can’t help but feel extremely violated someone came into her apartment while she was sleeping.
“My camera and laptop were extremely sentimental to me, and although I can replace them, it’s really not the same,” Bourne said. “I wish they would have thought about what this would do to us. I mean, obviously they’re not in a good place to be thinking of stealing, but you don’t know how these items got into someone’s possession. You don’t know how they will or will not function without it. I can’t drive. I can’t pay for anything. I can’t even get a temporary debit card because I don’t have my license.”
Chad Russom, another victim of the string of burglaries, said he believes his apartment was burglarized on Friday night. He said he didn’t realize his apartment was stolen from because only his keys and Xbox One were taken.
“I didn’t realize we got robbed until my roommate came back from out of town yesterday. I saw his Xbox One was gone, and I just thought he took it with him on his trip or something.” Russom said. “Originally when I saw my keys were gone, I thought I had misplaced them until I realized they went missing the same time as the Xbox.”
Russom, a senior majoring in accounting, said he was thankful nothing was stolen from his vehicle, but has put a lock on his steering wheel to prevent it from being stolen. He said he feels uncomfortable knowing someone was in his apartment while he was asleep, and he said he was afraid the suspect might come back since the apartment keys were stolen.
“It’s very strange knowing that someone was rifling through our stuff while we were in the other room sleeping,” Russom said. “We now have a golf club and baseball bat handy in the living room, and we’re keeping our blinds shut at night now with a light left on.”
