Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office is investigating another rural burglary, but this time it involves large and expensive loot.

Deputies say someone took a boat, some four-wheelers and a go-kart from a garage in Peck. People who live in the community along the Sedgwick-Sumner County line say crimes like this do not happen there often.

"Everybody does watch everybody's stuff pretty much," said Portia Swonger, who has lived in Peck most of her life.

She believes everybody watching out for neighbors is why there are not many burglaries in Peck. The community is small enough, it's pretty easy to tell when something is out-of-place.

"(We) watch strange cars go through and you know something's going on or that the car didn't belong here and say, 'Hey, did you know that person who came down here?'" Swonger said.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office says, even with neighbors keeping watch, someone was able to steal big, expensive items from a garage in Peck sometime between Feb. 23 and March 13.

"The person took a Mach 1 boat, a Honda four-wheeler, two small four-wheelers and a go-kart," Sheriff's Lt. David Mattingly said. "The total loss was $22,500."

Swonger was a bit surprised to learn the crime that happened on her street was not noticed because people in Peck are fast to check in with their neighbors if anything suspicious is happening. She even checked up on her neighbor early one recent morning.

"The other morning we heard somebody over there and I was on Facebook at 4 a.m. saying, 'Are you at your garage?' He said, 'Yeah,'" Swonger said.

Despite the high-dollar burglary currently under investigation in her neighborhood, Swonger does not believe burglaries -- or any crime -- are on the rise in Peck.

"It's always been here," she said. "It's just us living in town don't see it like they do living outside of town."

Mattingly said people who live near where the burglary happened told investigators the only unusual thing they noticed was a red Dodge pickup with Texas plates in the area during the same timeframe the burglary took place.

Anybody with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at 267-2111.