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Home security cameras capture images of serial burglar

THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. —
Mari Schwarting arrived home Friday and made a frightening discovery inside.  

"A lamp was turned over. My jewelry box was emptied. There was a pillow on the floor missing a pillow case," said Schwarting, who then checked her home surveillance video system.

The video recording from several cameras showed a minivan pull into her driveway. A man got out of the vehicle while a woman passenger stayed inside the vehicle.

The video shows the man knocking on the door, and when nobody answers he checks around the side of the house. The man can then be seen returning to the van and putting on a pair of gloves before grabbing a chair and going around the corner where he removed a screen and went through an unlocked window.

A short time later the video shows the thief coming out of the house with stolen items, including the victim's shotgun.

"It makes me kind of scared to be around here until he's caught," Schwarting told KIRO-7.

In several other burglaries nearby, police said the thief has removed unsecured air conditioning units from windows to get inside homes.

In one case, he walked through the unlocked front door of Eladice Arnold.

"They took antique heirloom jewelry. All my gold and silver," said Arnold.

The thief entered the home even though 85-year-old Lowell Arnold, who is disabled, was sleeping in a living room chair. Lowell uses an oxygen tank to help him breathe, and he said it appears the thief unscrewed the connection from the tank but did not steal it.

"I'd say it is very dangerous," said Lowell Arnold.

Both detectives and victims are hoping everyone takes a good look at the video posted on the KIROTV.com website and they expect someone will be able to identify the crook and call the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.

"I want to see him caught, definitely," said Eladice Arnold. 

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