Dayton: Violent serial robbers at work

Sadly, even had the police been informing people of this threat, history shows they would likely be recommending against the most effective form of deterrence and self-protection - armed citizens.

February 9, 2004
Dayton Daily News (click for complete story)

DAYTON -- Leslie Bloodsoe limped into her upstairs bathroom, stepped gingerly into her bathtub and instinctively pulled the shower curtain shut.

Bloodsoe should have been at work as an RTA Project Mobility van driver Jan. 15, but she had knee surgery two days before, and was taking it easy in her Emerson Avenue home.

She had heard the loud BANG! of her kitchen door being kicked in, then heard tires squealing down the street.

"My heart was racing."

The bathroom doorknob jiggled.

Someone was in her house.

Police believe Bloodsoe was a victim of a brazen burglary ring believed to have hit more than 50 houses in northwest Dayton in the past year. The burglars cut telephone lines, presumably to disable alarm systems, Sgt. Moises Perez said.

Bloodsoe, 35, a mother of three, said she wishes she had known her home's break-in was among them. One burglary had occurred eight days before hers just a few doors away in her Fairview neighborhood.

"I didn't know there so many," Bloodsoe said. "(The police) could have let us know about all these break-ins," she said. "We could have taken some precautions."