Crooks kicking in doors in midtown Tulsa homes

At least six homes were burglarized or broken into in the midtown Tulsa area in just 48 hours.

They all happened in the area between Lewis and Yale Avenues and between 21st and 51st Streets, most in the middle of the day.

Midtown Alert Neighbors is a very involved neighborhood watch group, with dozens of dedicated volunteers. Alert Neighbors signs can be sign throughout each of the affected areas, but criminals still seem willing to strike.

But the latest victims and other members of the Alert Neighbors group had a very strong message for those criminals: we will catch you.

John, who asked not to reveal his last name out of fear of becoming a target, is a neighborhood captain with the Midtown Alert Neighbors program. He said the most recent break-in happened Thursday afternoon, and was alarmingly close to his own home.

Fortunately, an alert neighbor home for lunch and a postal worker thought something was suspicious.

"They both called police," John said. "Police were here in a matter of three to five minutes."

"What's kind of funny about this is the person driving the car left his partner and the partner had to run."

A few minutes later officers were able to catch the stranded burglar inside a nearby abandoned house after a police dog tracked him down.  

Darrell Baker now faces breaking and entering and burglary charges.

Not far away, Sarah, who also asked not to reveal her last name, became another victim. But she came shockingly close to the bad guy.

"Tuesday night about 9:05 I heard a loud noise," Sarah said. "And then I heard someone walk down my hallway."

Half asleep, Sarah saw a light turn on in her daughter's room. Her daughter hasn't lived at home in years.

"So I turned on my light in my bedroom and yelled out 'who's there,'" she said. "Then all at once I heard someone run out of the house."

The reality of what happened didn't set in until after she repaired her kicked-in door, replaced her locks and made other security upgrades in her home.

"They didn't take anything," she said. "But they were in my house."

Her neighbors took it seriously. One even installed surveillance cameras to watch the whole block.

"It makes me feel a little violated for sure," Sarah said. "And I feel very lucky that they didn't hurt me. Material things aren't important, but myself...I'm lucky in that respect."

From the various reports from the break-ins, it appeared there was more than one burglar or team of burglars working the neighborhood.