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LAKE GENEVA FIRE DEPARTMENT ATTACKED
A robbery took place on Badger Lane last Thursday. A short Hispanic man broke into a home and proceeded to the kitchen to go through the cabinets. At this time it is presumed that the armed intruder broke in looking for drugs, since going after dishes or food in such a manner just doesn’t seem reasonable. The residents were at home in a different part of the house. When the adult male resident entered the kitchen to find the robber he tackled him immediately. The intruder broke free, threatening the resident with his gun, and then escaped out the back and fled. The police were called and the entire road blocked off, but no perpetrator was found.
The owner of the home is a Lake Geneva City firefighter. All by itself, that fact would not make too much of an impact, because home intrusions can happen to anyone. However, in this case, there was a preceding burglary. A burglary is different from a robbery in that a robbery is a direct confrontation with a victim, whereas burglary is a crime of theft only. The burglary of the previous home was on Conant Street, which is only a block and a half away. That break in was of another firefighter’s home, and it occurred on October 3rd.
Both home invasions of firefighters occurred during the daylight hours, and both are believed to have been committed by the same perpetrator. The northwest neighborhood where these break-ins took place has been the subject of attention by the Geneva Shore Report previously. Last year there was a rash of car windows being smashed by bricks, with their interiors ripped out and contents stolen. Earlier in 2016, there were reports of mysterious people lurking about the alleys at night to the point where the GSR actually installed some night vision video cameras to catch the trespassers, but to no avail.
The Lake Geneva Fire Department. Real men and women put these uniforms on to go out and help all of us. We need to band together to help and protect them, as well.
The Lake Geneva Police Department reports that there have been other firefighters living in the area who’ve experienced attempted break ins, but they have not been burglarized because of alarms, or the potential perpetrator feared being seen and were driven out of the neighborhood. What’s going on? How is it that anyone has a complete list of all of Lake Geneva’s firefighters and their home addresses? How is it that this group of marginally paid men and women became targets for burglary when all those expensive homes sit around the lake like big enticing targets, most unoccupied for most of the year.
Admittedly, most of those homes have burglar alarms and/or security staff, but they still would have to be much more delectable targets than the homes of firemen who don’t make that much money, or are unlikely to have items a burglar would be interested in. Also, if the burglar is the same person and in search of drugs, then why pick on firefighter’s homes? Isn’t it much more likely that firefighters and police officers would not be taking drugs than that they would, next to the regular population, anyway? The logic of this attack on fire department personnel just does not add up unless this is some sort of personal vendetta the GSR knows nothing about. The police and fire department, as well as the entire neighborhood, need to band together to protect the very people who protect us. The police have increased patrols of the neighborhood, and local citizens should do the same.
The north east neighborhood of Lake Geneva has become some sort of target, and the targeted people living there need to turn the tables. That can be done by starting a Neighborhood Watch, and opening a regular dialogue with the police.
