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By Myrna Trauntvein

Times-News Correspondent

A rash of recent break-ins in Mona prompted the city council to invited the public to discuss the problem with Juab County Sheriff David Carter.

There was standing-room only as residents from the community came to learn what they can do to protect their property against unwanted intruders.

"The burglars are taking mostly cash," said Carter. "They are not interested in anything which can be traced."

In fact, to this point, the burglars have walked by gun cabinets filled with guns, have, usually, left expensive jewelry, and have taken cash, at times settling for small amounts.

In fact, he said, the few times when papers have been taken officers believe they were taken by mistake. Some have turned up after having been discarded by the burglars.

One problem is, said Carter, that there may be copycat burglars who are using much the same methods as the original burglars and they may be tempted to do things differently.

For quite some time, burglaries have been taking place all over Juab County and in Sanpete County.

"They have not bothered Mona residents until recently," said Carter. Prior to the past few weeks, burglars had concentrated on Nephi and Levan.

There have been four burglaries in Mona over the past two weeks. In fact, one of the homes burglarized in Mona belonged to a deputy of the sheriff's office, said Carter, and may have been retaliatory for the work the deputy is doing to protect homes in the community.

"The best thing residents can do to protect their homes against burglars is watch for strangers in the neighborhood who are acting suspiciously," he said.

Another thing residents can do is call the sheriff's office and report any suspicious activities or persons.

"I would rather respond 1,000 times and not have a problem than not get called one time and have it be the time we should have responded," said Carter. "It is not like crying 'wolf' because each suspicious event is important to us."

He said 95 percent of the burglaries take place on Friday or Saturday nights and most occur around dusk just after dark.

"When it is light later, as it is in summer, there are not as many burglaries but they pick up again when it begins to get dark earlier," Carter said.

One reason for that, he said, was that burglars cannot tell who has gone to bed and who is not home. They are interested in breaking in where no one is present.

He said the burglars have not been disturbing homes where there are dogs, however, since many neighborhood disagreements can arise from dog problems he would suggest a home security system instead.

"They are very effective, especially the type that ring into the sheriff's office," he said.

However, the least expensive and a highly effective method, was to let a nearby neighbor know when the house would be empty.

"If neighbors in a neighborhood watch out for each other, then report any activity which does not seem right, we would be able to stop the burglars," said Carter.

In some instances, had neighbors called when they heard a noise or saw something that did not seem quite right, officers would have caught a burglary in action.

In a few cases, he said, the burglars had taken a safe outside and beat the safe to pieces with sledge hammers. That had to make noise but nothing was reported.

In a couple of cases, others had told the burglarized residents who had nothing taken that officers would do nothing unless something was taken.

"That is not true," said Carter. He said they would come and investigate and would take fingerprints. He said officers were hopeful that someone would see someone or would know the one thing needed to find the burglars.

"Watch out for each other," said Carter. "Keep watch in your neighborhoods and report any suspected problems. It is our job to check things out and we are happy to do it."

When a burglary does occur, said Carter, people feel personally violated. They express feelings of personal encroachment like they had been touched by an evil person. Some express feelings that they cannot wear the underwear in their drawers, which have been ruffled through, until they have washed them.

"This has turned into a personal thing for law enforcement officers," said Carter. "We would appreciate citizen help in solving this problem."