Vacant homes still a target in Hernando County

Dorothy Kraft went to the house Tuesday afternoon and noticed a door to the garage was open.

She wandered around and noticed a doorway at the rear of the garage was unlocked.

Kraft's father is in a nursing home and no one lives there, according to the sheriff's office.

She has the power of attorney over the house and it's up for sale. She checks it from time to time.

None of the doors was supposed to be unlocked or open.

She searched elsewhere and saw two pillow cases and a purse lying in one of the bedrooms. She also noticed a snow globe was missing, according to a sheriff's report.

Kraft knew what happened. The row of houses behind her on Midway Street in Spring Hill is occupied by known drug addicts, she told authorities. One of them probably came over to sleep and shower, she thought.

Deputies arrested Donna L. Morrow and charged her with burglary. She admitted to stealing the snow globe and leaving her purse behind, deputies said.

Morrow also was charged with drug possession after deputies discovered she was carrying pills in her pockets while at the jail, according to an arrest report.

Kraft did not return a message seeking comment.

Kraft's father's house became vacant because he could no longer live without anyone near his side. There are thousands of more homes unoccupied for various other reasons - the most common is the escalating number of foreclosures during the past two years.

People who target those houses are looking for more than just knickknacks inside garages.

"Mostly what we see are people going into foreclosed homes and taking out appliances," said Sgt. Donna Black, a spokeswoman with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

The burglars are brazen, she said. They don't show up at the homes at night or during times when neighbors aren't home.

They pull up into the driveway with their pickup trucks, enter the houses and tote the stoves, air conditioners and microwaves out of the house in broad daylight, Black said.

It is happening a lot in the Royal Highlands area near Weeki Wachee, where there are fewer homes and fewer pairs of eyes, she said.

Even when they are seen by neighbors, no one gets suspicious because they assume they are authorized to be there.

"They're acting like they're workers," she said.

Black said the sheriff's office is encouraging more people who live near vacant homes to keep a look out and to report anything suspicious.