OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — The Oakland Police Department (OPD) is warning residents about home burglary suspects. The department has seen an uptick in residential burglaries in which the suspects are disguised as Amazon workers, OPD said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
In a number of cases, OPD said those individuals wear Amazon delivery driver vests and ring the doorbell to see if someone is home or not. Then, they break into the home, take several items and drive away from the area.
OPD is actively investigating these burglaries. The department did not specify how many burglaries there were and where exactly they happened.
In the past couple of years, KRON4 has reported instances of homes being broken into by individuals posing as either delivery or government workers.
Last April, the Concord Police Department reported that an imposter UPS driver burglarized a home. Later that year in October, one home invader disguised as a PG&E worker and robbed an elderly Daly City woman. In August 2021, a Sonoma County man says a man dressed as a delivery driver robbed their home.
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OPD provided a list of safety tips and recommendations for burglary prevention:
- Make your home look occupied, and make it difficult to break in.
- Lock all outside doors and windows before you leave.
- Leave lights on when you go out or connect some lamps to automatic timers during the evening.
- Do not allow deliveries, mail, newspapers, or flyers to build up while you are away. Arrange with the Post Office to hold your mail or arrange for a friend or neighbor to take them regularly.
- If you can, invest in a doorbell camera with a two-way talk feature.
- Call the OPD non-emergency number at (510)777-3333, to report suspicious persons.
