Four cases of burglary and two cases of attempted assault on Bloomington’s southeast side are being investigated as connected incidents.
In all four incidents, women woke to find a masked man in their homes near where they were sleeping, according to a release from the Bloomington Police Department. Three incidents occurred Thursday morning following a similar incident Monday morning.
In all four cases, the intruder fled when the women confronted or fought him, and in all four cases, he entered through an unlocked door. The descriptions of the intruder match: he’s described as a white man in his mid-to-late 20s, between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet 1 inch tall, with a medium build.
At about 5 a.m. Monday, a woman sleeping on a couch in a house on the 1600 block of South Henderson Street awoke when a masked man touched her leg. He fled when she pulled the mask off his face.
At about 2:15 a.m. Thursday, a 20-year-old woman at the 500 block of East Second Street woke to see a masked man standing above her. He threatened to kill her unless she took off her clothes. When he attempted to take off her clothes, she screamed and fought back, and he fled.
At about 5 a.m. Thursday, a 33-year-old woman on the 1300 block of South Washington Street woke up to her dog barking. She found a man wearing a mask outside her bedroom door. The man fled.
At about 6 a.m. Thursday, a 22-year-old woman on the 400 block of East Melrose Avenue woke up and saw a man wearing a mask crouched next to her bed. She screamed, and the man fled.
In the release BPD urges residents, especially on the southeast side of town, to lock doors and windows, leave exterior lights on at night, close blinds and curtains and call 911 if they see any suspicious activity.
Jack Evans
