Police Alerting Community to Break-In Near Tedesco Country Club

By ADAM SWIFT (Patch Staff)

Marblehead police are warning residents near the Swampscott-Marblehead line after a break-in attempt of an occupied home Friday morning.

There has been an uptick in the break-ins of unoccupied houses in Marblehead lately, but now it seems that potential thieves may be getting more brazen, according to the Marblehead police.

At around 5 a.m. on Friday morning, a resident who lives in the neighborhood of the Tedesco Country Club was woken up by a sound outside and then the front doorbell ringing. The resident, who was not expecting company, looked outside to see an unfamiliar man at the front of the home, according to police.

The resident then lost sight of the person when he disappeared into the darkness. The caller retreated upstairs to call 911 and noticed an outside security light activate in the rear of the house and heard a loud noise, possibly coming from inside the residence.

With the 911 dispatcher on the line, the caller locked himself into a second floor room and police responded to the home, where officers found the rear window was open and the screen window had been removed. It is presumed to be the access point into the home by the intruder, according to police.

Given the proximity to the town line and seriousness of the situation, mutual aid was requested and patrol officers from Swampscott and Salem, along with the Salem Police K-9 Unit responded into the area. The K-9 Unit was able to acquire a scent and led officers into Swampscott, at which time the scent was lost.

The homeowner described the suspect as being a lanky male wearing pants and a jacket.

Marblehead detectives also responded to the scene for further investigation including processing and retrieval of evidence.

It appears there was nothing taken during the break-in and aside from being understandably scared by the encounter, the homeowner was not harmed, police stated.

Police officials said this is a new and more serious twist to the daytime break-ins of unoccupied houses that have been occurring of late.

Intensified police patrols will be occurring in the area and the department encourage residents to contact police if they hear or see anything out of the ordinary. Police are also recommending residents close and lock ground floor windows at night, at least until they can apprehend the suspect.