Goleta burglaries worry residents

A recent rise in burglaries have Goleta residents nervous, but quick work this afternoon has led to two arrests.

Sheriff’s Lieutenant Butch Arnoldi, who serves as the Goleta Police Chief said his patrol units and detectives have stepped up patrols.

This afternoon investigators said a resident in the 700 block of Cambridge Drive in Goleta came home to find two men wearing masks, and burglarizing the home. The suspects took off in a silver Nissan Maxima. That car was spotted a few blocks away and a “high risk” stop was made.

The suspect were taken into custody but no other information has been released at this time.

It’s not known if the suspects are directly linked to the home burglary today or any other crime in the area.

Residents in the area said they have been aware of the crimes, in part, through a community bulletin board service called Nextdoor.com.

One resident immediately had an alarm system installed.

Another, has surveillance cameras that can be viewed in the house and from a remote location.

Arnoldi says, “It’s a crime of opportunity. That’s what we’ve got going. We’ve got detectives working on leads as well as our patrolmen are being more proactive.”

Some of the burglars are finding a way into homes all too easily. “Unfortunately the majority of the crimes have occurred because people have left unlocked doors and very few are by force,” said Arnoldi.

“We’ve seen a lot of police presence in our neighborhood,” said resident Kelly Taiji. “That’s good.”

Most of the crimes have occurred in an area north of Highway 101 roughly between Patterson Avenue and Los Carneros.

“It makes me nervous because we have always thought this was a nice neighborhood to live in and I felt very safe,” said Taiji.