Keep cars, houses, garages locked, Sycamore police warn after reported suspicious activity

SYCAMORE – Sycamore police are warning residents to keep their homes, cars and garages locked and to be on alert for suspicious activity after two separate incidents recently were reported blocks from each other.

There is no known ongoing threat, police said, but the public is reminded to ensure cars, houses and garages are locked.

According to a public community safety alert issued Friday by the Sycamore Police Department, police don’t know whether the two incidents were related, and no arrests or charges have come from them.

“It was possible it could have been a legitimate reason for them going to those doors or potentially a mistake going to those houses. But we would rather err on side of caution.”

—  Sycamore Police Chief Jim Winters

Sycamore Police Chief Jim Winters said no injuries or violence has been identified in connection with the reports. In each instance, neither person or people knocking on a front door made contact with the residents inside.

“There was no indication that there was weapons, and because there was no contact, we don’t really know what their intent was,” Winters said Friday. “It was possible it could have been a legitimate reason for them going to those doors or potentially a mistake going to those houses. But we would rather err on the side of caution.”

Syamore police said the first incident occurred about 8:30 p.m. March 19 on Home Street. No description of the person or people involved is available.

“The resident reported an unknown person or persons persistently and loudly knocked on the front door, rang the doorbell and, after no response, continued to the back door,” police wrote in the alert. “The person or persons knocked loudly and continuously on the back door until leaving when the door was unanswered.”

The second incident occurred about 5:15 a.m. March 21 on Greenleaf Street, according to the alert. A Sycamore resident told police that a man had tried to open the front door of their home but left after determining the front door was locked.

Greenleaf and Home streets are blocks from each other, about a two-minute drive near the city’s south side.

Police said the two incidents are the only ones like it that recently have been reported to the department.

Sycamore police are requesting that anyone who experiences a similar incident call the department at 815-895-3435.