She returned home to find that some burglars had paid her a visit.

"Everything had been turned upside down in the house. The cushions in the family room were on the floor. The pool table had been thrown to the floor," she said.

Viswanathan said that her clothes had been thrown on the floor and trampled upon.

The burglars left with a laptop, a personal computer, two digital cameras and $5,000 worth of jewelry.

Viswanathan and some of her neighbors say that they have been living in fear ever since. They have bonded together and started an email message board system to get to know each other better, exchange cell phone numbers and alert one another the moment they see something suspicious on their street.

Anuradha Thareja, who lives next door, said that she used to feel safe and secure living in Saratoga before. "Statistics show that if there is a burglary in the neighborhood, the same area is likely to get hit again," she said.

Thareja said that the burglars must have staked out the neighborhood before deciding to strike. "My kids used to leave the door open, but now they are paranoid. My little girl does not want to sleep alone in her room anymore," she said.

Viswanathan and Thareja said that the incident had subconsciously taken a toll on their normal lives.

Besides starting the email group, the two—along with neighbor, Sanjay Aggarwal—took their fears to a Saratoga City Council meeting on Oct. 6.

"We asked the sheriff's station for more information about our case, but we have gotten very little information so far," said Thareja.

Lt. Terry Calderone said that typically burglaries in residential areas rise during the summer months and taper off later. "There is another spike during the Christmas holiday season," he said.

The affected people on DeHavilland Drive are not taking any chances. Viswanathan installed an emergency alarm system the day after the burglary. Thareja has taken to wearing a pendant with a panic button, to alert people in case of an emergency.