Police caught three people who stole a water heater out of a District Heights, Md., home thanks to an alert neighbor who saw them in the act.
On Wednesday, Jennifer Bowser, who is retired from the U.S. Marshals Service, watched a man enter a foreclosed home in the 6100 block of Belwood Street. Then a car backed up to the house with the trunk open, and a water heater was placed in the trunk.
βPeople drive around,β Bowser said. βThey see notices stuck on houses where the houses are unoccupied and they just take advantage of the situation and they expect the neighbors not to report it. They expect the neighbors to look the other way. But those days are over with on this street.β
Bowser called 911.
βIf theyβre stripping this house, whoβs next?β Bowser said.
Officers responded quickly and arrested two men and a woman. A 4-year-old girl was with them. She has been placed in the custody of relatives.