COOS BAY — Four days have passed since Sharon Paul began keeping a heavy cast-iron skillet next to her bed.

“If they come, I’m going to hit them with my frying pan,” said Paul, a slim woman with nearly platinum blond hair.  She’s even thinking of buying a Louisville Slugger. “You just feel like some stranger’s in your house touching all your stuff and taking your stuff.”

On Tuesday, the Coos Bay resident, who lives on Date Avenue, became a burglary victim, and she’s not planning on letting it happen again. She’s already asked her neighbors to keep a better eye on her home, and there’s always the frying pan.

“We are just going to be more alert,” Paul, 54, said, adding she’s planning on moving to Santa Cruz, Calif., this summer to be near her son. While the burglary wasn’t the main reason for her future move, she said it definitely sealed the deal.

Eighteen business and residential burglaries occurred in Coos Bay in January and February. Another seven were reported this month.  

While those numbers aren’t unusually high compared to similar periods in the past three years, there has been a noticeable fluctuation from year-to-year, with 167 last year; 147 in 2006; and 170 in 2005. The city of North Bend  has seen a definite increase, said Sgt. Brian Allen, with 81 burglaries in 2006 and 122 in 2007.

What’s worse, said Capt. Rodger Craddock of the Coos Bay Police Department, is he’s beginning to see a disturbing trend among this type of property crime.

“It’s worrisome because some of the ones we are seeing (happened) while people were at home,” Craddock said. He noted that a break-in when residents are at home can turn a quick snatch-and-grab bloody. “We don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

At least two people were hurt in a recent burglary case.

According to a Coos Bay Police Department press log, during a burglary reported Monday in the 200 block LaClair Street in Coos Bay, three men knocked on the door of a home and assaulted a 17-year-old boy and his younger brother after the teenager answered the door.

Luckily for Paul, she didn’t meet her burglars. But she does believe she might have scared them away when she pulled up, because she found her computer screen near her doorway, along with a battered and broken side door, frightened cats, wrecked jewelry boxes and her bed strewn with trinkets and other mementos.

“It’s not stuff that would get any money. Just keepsakes that meant something to me,” she said.

Definitions, sentencing

A burglary can include theft, but not all burglaries involve stealing.

Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier explained that burglary occurs any time someone enters a structure without permission and commits a crime.

“It’s more than breaking in. You have to get in and then you have to commit a crime. Then it’s burglary,” Frasier said. Any crime, be it assault or criminal mischief, paired with a break-in will be classified as a burglary.  

There are two levels of burglary in Oregon, Frasier said. Second-degree burglary, the lesser of the two, typically involves a break-in at a business or shed, whereas first-degree burglary usually occurs when someone breaks into a residence where someone is living.

Frasier explained that a break-in can be traumatic or “turn nasty” for people inside the home. “It’s likely to be a more dangerous situation when someone breaks into a home rather than a business after hours.”

Jeff McCadden, the owner of the Gamers Galaxy in Coos Bay, said he found that someone had broken into his shop on Tuesday morning. This is the third time it has happened in the past two years.

One piece of electronics valued at $600 was removed from the shop. The culprit ripped out the store’s phone lines, disabled the alarm and broke a back-door window to gain access to the shop.

“I think they knew exactly what they were going for,” McCadden said, adding his heart sank when he saw the broken window.

The DA said he has heard of an increase in residential burglaries from Coos Bay Police. He attributed the reason behind the crimes to two things: methamphetamine and soft penalties.

“The people who are doing multiple burglaries, they’re doing it because they realize the penalties for Oregon for theft and burglary are pretty low,” Frasier said. “To get somebody to prison on a burglary (charge) right now ... they would have to have a pretty horrendous record.”

It’s particularly bad, Frasier said, as a spate of budget cuts to the Coos County Sheriff’s Office, the county jail and the DA’s Office have made it difficult to try and hold convicts.

“With our jail population being cut in half, I think the people who don’t have a very serious criminal record have figured out the potential penalty they are looking at is worth the risk to break in,” Frasier said.

A person arrested on a charge of second-degree burglary could spend only 10 days in jail if he has stolen less than $1,000 in money or goods. On the other end of the scale, a burglar who steals $50,000 or more and has four or more felonies, could face 10 to 30 months of prison time, depending on his criminal past. With a clean record, that sentence drops down to a 90-day sentence with 30 spent in jail. Frasier said it’s typical for a judge to ask a person convicted of a crime to serve only a portion of the sentence. The remainder is served if there is a probation violation.

“I think these people have it figured out,” Frasier said.

First-degree burglaries are treated differently. Breaking into a vacant home can result in a 16- to 36- month sentence, depending on the culprit’s record; or a 90-day sentence with 30 days up front in jail. If the house is occupied at the time of a break-in, the sentence gets heavier, with a range of 16 to 45 months in prison. Finally, if the burglar is armed, or has caused, threatened or attempted physical injury to someone inside the house, then, no matter his record, his sentence will range from 34 to 72 months in prison. Convicted burglars also can be ordered to pay restitution to victims.

Frasier said if his department comes under the ax during any possible budget cuts, more property crimes may go untried.

“I have informed the commissioners that if you cut me more, I am going to have to make changes,” Frasier said.

Due to staffing cutbacks, sheriff’s deputies will not respond to a burglary report unless an officer is in the area and not involved in a person-related crime. If a burglary is still in progress, that is another matter.

“If there is a confrontation, it becomes a person crime and then we would definitely respond,” said Sgt. Pat Downing.

In cases when an officer does not respond, the burglary victim is mailed a citizen’s report form. Most burglaries are discovered and reported after the thieves have left, said Downing.

He reported that there were 19 burglaries reported in 2007 and 14 in 2006 in the county. Four burglaries have been reported since Jan. 1 through Thursday — three fewer compared to the seven reported from January to March 2007.

Although reports of burglaries are down so far this year, Downing noted the decline might be due to people’s awareness of the staffing cuts and the unlikelihood of an officer responding to the call.

“We may not be getting accurate reporting in the first place,” he said.

Allen, a sergeant for the North Bend Police Department, said he and other officers feel discouraged that the criminal justice system in Coos County can’t properly punish arrestees.

“Even if we do arrest someone, we don’t know how it’s going to turn out after it leaves our hands,” Allen said.  

Crime of opportunity

With so many issues in the county, the best way to protect oneself is to be proactive. That means locking doors, installing dead bolts and alarm systems, keeping expensive items out of view, cutting back shrubs to maintain visibility and asking neighbors to watch out for suspicious persons (see graphic).

“When it’s a home, they’re probably going by and checking doors,” Craddock said, adding two cases this week involved homes with unlocked doors.

For Paul, the damage is already done. Police have told her it’s unlikely her home will get hit again. But that doesn’t make her feel any more secure.

“I would love to scream at the people that came in here. Those were my Grandmother’s necklaces,” Paul said.

— Staff Writer Alexander Rich contributed to this story.