A retired couple says they’re frightened after a group of crooks tried to break into their home while they were inside. Now people in the Lea Manor neighborhood, located in south Kansas City, are on edge.
"It puts fear in your heart, it puts fear in your mind," the homeowner who did not want to be identified tells 41 Action News.
The woman says she woke up Thursday morning to a loud thud in her living room. When she went to check out the nose she says she saw three men standing on her back porch, one holding a propane tank slamming it into her sliding glass door.
“With that all the glass just it was safety glass it all just came tumbling down and I just stood there and watched it," the owner said.
She says once the men saw her watching them, they ran off.
This homeowner is not the only person feeling targeted in the Lea Manor neighborhood. Terry O'Leary is the President of the Lea Manor Homes Association and says crime is up and they're seeing more suspicious activity.
"Ten to 15 percent of our neighborhood has had some kind of comment, something to add to or something that they were concerned about," said O’Leary.
Suzanne Epstein lives in the same Lea Manor neighborhood. Epstein says about a month ago someone stole lawn equipment out of her garage while she was home. Now, Epstein wants to create a neighborhood watch.
"Maybe walk up and down the street and see if we can coordinate people that walk in the neighborhood, walking dogs so we can have somebody spread out," said Epstein.
O’Leary wants to invest homeowner dues into buying security cameras for the neighborhood. As for the shaken homeowner, she has this message for the men who tried to get inside her home.
"You're pathetic it's just sad you know? What did you really think you were going to get?" she said.
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Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com
