Numerous homes burglarized on O'Neal Road

COLUMBIA — The Boone County Sheriff's Department is investigating a recent string of three burglaries on O’Neal Road.

The burglaries, two of which happened on Sept. 12, all occurred during daytime hours. A third burglary took place on Sept. 30. Tools, camera equipment, DVD players and other electronic items were reported stolen, with suspects gaining entry by force and, in one case, an open window , according to police.

“Burglary is always fairly steady,” said Detective Tom O’Sullivan of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department. “Seems business as usual.”

But even with its fairly constant nature, O’Sullivan said he thinks therecent series of burglaries is surprising.“It’s strange that it was three houses so close to one another,” O'Sullivan said.

The recent break-ins, which O'Sullivan thinks are related, came after last week’s burglaries at the Grandview Baptist Church on Route Z, and the Midway Locust Grove United Methodist Church and Midway Heights Baptist Church, which are located about 2 miles apart.

According to the Boone County Sheriff's Department Operations Statistical Report, there were 195 reported burglaries in the county in 2007.