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A spate of residential burglaries, more than a dozen in the past two weeks, has hit the Takoma Park, Silver Spring and Northwest Washington, D.C., area., seven of which police believe may be related.

Since Feb. 16-17, 10 home break-ins have occurred in Takoma Park, three have occurred along Georgia Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and one in east Silver Spring left the residents' house ransacked (see box).

The rash of break-ins began in the 7400 block of Maple Avenue in Takoma Park between 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 and 4 p.m. Feb. 17 after suspects forced entry through the rear window of a home and stole property, according to Takoma Park Police Department crime statistics. The most recent burglary occurred between 7:15 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. Friday in the 100 block of Elm Avenue in Takoma Park when the victims returned to their home and noticed items had been stolen.

In between, 11 burglaries and one attempted burglary occurred in Takoma Park or in Silver Spring and the District near the Takoma Park city line, as confirmed either by police crime summaries, police spokespeople or the victims themselves.

Five Takoma Park burglaries that occurred between Feb. 18 and Feb. 22 along Flower Avenue in Takoma Park's Ward 5 and two that occurred later in that area are believed to be related, said Capt. Ed Coursey of Takoma Park Police. In those burglaries, police believe multiple suspects entered the home in roughly the same way, through back or kitchen doors, and in the late afternoons and early evening, Coursey said.

In the possibly-related burglaries, the suspects have taken large amounts of property, possibly involving a truck, but a Feb. 23 construction site burglary on Flower Avenue where a truck may have been used is not believed to be related to any others, Coursey said.

"We don't have an explanation for the crimes," Coursey said Tuesday. "We are looking at such small numbers [in Takoma Park], you can go from none one month and then an active group working hard to commit crime can jump the numbers considerably."

Coursey said Takoma Park Police are working with nearby jurisdictions, as they always do, to stay updated on crime in the city.

Fourth District Metropolitan police, who cover northwest D.C. near the Silver Spring and Takoma Park lines, made an arrest Thursday on 16th Street NW for second-degree burglary but hadn't determined if the suspect was connected to crimes in other jurisdictions. Coursey said he was not aware of that arrest.

"The investigation is continuing, but I can share that the burglaries were of homes," said Fourth District Cmdr. Kimberly Chisley-Missouri, in an e-mail. "I have not been made aware of any burglaries in the county being closed."

The home burglaries, in addition to a recent sexual assault nearby along the jogging trail on the Sligo Creek Stream Valley, have motivated Takoma Park residents to initiate a quasi-neighborhood watch to put more eyes on their streets.

"This has been as bad as I've seen in awhile, mostly because in the past they have been more spread out," said Takoma Park City Councilman Reuben Snipper, whose Ward 5 has been hit the hardest by the burglaries and who held a meeting with residents and police at his home last night.

Snipper has found information about these burglaries hard to come by, in part due to Takoma Park police department's vacant crime analyst position.

"The crime analyst has proven very helpful [in the past], not just with communicating with others but in identifying hot spots," Snipper said. "It's an unfortunate gap right now which I hope will be remedied soon."

One victim of a recent home burglary said, judging by the level of disrepair in which she found her home after it was burglarized, the suspects were "definitely some people that were experienced."

"They were very thorough, they had obviously done it before," said the victim, who did not want the details of the crime or her identity published in fear of retaliation.

Most home burglaries occur during the day when homes are empty and it's up to stay-at-home neighbors to keep an eye out for suspicious activity and then call police, said Montgomery County Police Third District Community Service Officer Joy Patil. She added that with the record snowfall from February subsiding, many criminals have better access to homes and may be itching to get back to work.

"If [criminals] couldn't walk up to the back doors of a home and get in, that was keeping the crime down," Patil said. "Burglaries may start up again now that they can get to homes again."

The anonymous victim said she is now considering an alarm system, improved, motion-censored lighting and even getting a dog to deter future crime. But what is permanently lost is her sense of safety.

"I started thinking I needed to take everything of value with me when I left the house," the victim said. "I didn't want to leave anything in our house.

"It makes you feel totally paranoid."