Police are searching for the person who climbed through the window of a Hamden home early Monday morning and stole from the residents while they were sleeping.
It's the city's third home invasion in the past two weeks, and police are investigation a possible connection between two of the break-ins.
The family told NBC Connecticut, they didn't know someone broke into their house until they noticed a pocketbook containing keys and credit cards missing.
According to police, the suspect crawled through an unlocked window to enter a home on West Helen Street in Hamden. The burglar took a purse, house keys and car keys while the residents were asleep upstairs.
"There are things she can't replace that were in her wallet," said Cindy Simell-Devoe, a neighbor and close friend of the victim. "This is the first in our neighborhood, but I'm sure if it's ours, it's everybody's."
She said "they're great people and to wake up and know somebody was in your house has got to be the creepiest feeling."
Police are searching for the culprit. Anyone with information on the crime is urged to call Hamden police Det. Sean Dolan at 203-230-4040.
Police are still searching for a male armed robber who recently tied a Hamden woman up and robbed her at gunpoint inside a Kaye Vue Drive apartment. Another woman was also robbed at gunpoint after a home invasion on Mix Avenue in town.
Hamden's police chief has also been getting reports of car break-ins near the State Street area, as well.
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Police urge residents to keep their property secured.
Simell-Devoe said neighbors plan to start a block watch in hopes of warding off criminals. She and her husband are keeping lights on at night and activating the alarm system.
"My husband wanted to take the hard drive out of our computer," Simell-Devoe explained. "I said, 'The day we take the hard drive out of the computer is the day we put the for sale sign up,' because I'm not going to live like that."
Detectives say that while their are similarities in the home invasions, they have not confirmed at this time whether they are connected.
