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Someone broke into a home in Cupertino by prying open a screen and entering through an open kitchen window. The thief took approximately $20,000 worth of jewelry from a master bedroom. That was Nov. 18 at 7:42 p.m. That same evening, at 6:05, someone broke into another Cupertino home by removing a screen and pushing a window open. The thief ransacked the master bedroom, taking $24,100 in jewelry before leaving through a sliding door.
The crimes are similar to more than 50 others targeting the South-Asian and Asian communities in Sunnyvale and Cupertino this year.
Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Lt. Marty Dale said the department believes it may be an issue of targeting because those two ethnic groups are the victims of a disproportionate number of crimes.
Dale said it may also be an issue of cultural differences. For example, if people were not used to locking every window and door in their homes before they moved to the area, and continue that custom here, it makes them more appealing
to criminals.
"If there is some education that needs to take place in the community, then we're glad to do it," Dale said.
So far the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Westside Substation, which polices Cupertino, are stymied about who is responsible for the break-ins, and are seeking the community's help.
This continues to be the case after the sheriff's office, looking for help, organized a community forum on the issue Nov. 17.
Dale said DPS had received a number of calls from concerned residents, who were referred to the community forum. In addition, the department conducts routine home security checks and meetings with local neighborhood watch groups to help protect the community.
Dale said the majority of these targeted crimes seem to be in the south parts of Sunnyvale, near the border with Cupertino.
Two detectives, a district attorney and two FBI special agents also attended the event, hoping to make contacts in the community-- similar burglaries have also occurred in San Jose--and to develop leads.
"We didn't get any good leads," said John Hirokawa, a captain with the substation. "We were hoping somebody we didn't already know about would come forward and say for example, there are these kids we know about."
The week of Thanksgiving, for instance, such input helped the sheriff's office track down juveniles allegedly involved in robberies in Saratoga.
Hirokawa hopes something similar will happen in Cupertino, pointing out that the chief of police in San Francisco also recently asked for her community's help in tackling that city's string of homicides.
In Cupertino, such help could come in the form of a witness describing burglars or writing down the license plate of a suspicious car.
"That gives us something to investigate with," Hirokawa said. At the moment the substation is frustrated by its lack of leads from recovered property, fingerprints or witnesses.
The sheriff's office is also looking into possibly related crimes in Milpitas and Fremont and investigating gang activity, particularly among South Asians. Such possible gang activity sparked the interest of the FBI's organized crime unit, although it is not yet collaborating with the sheriff's office. The FBI, along with the other law enforcement officials, hoped members of the community would provide tips at the Nov. 17 forum.
Instead, they met frustration as the audience expected an update on progress made in solving the crimes. Hirokawa hopes this changes and the community will help officials crack the case.
"We're still searching," Hirokawa said.
Jason Goldman-Hall contributed to this article.
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