Burglars targeting Kent senior housing building? Five recent thefts reported

KENT -- Residents of a Kent senior housing center say someone is coming into their building in the middle of the night and stealing purses, wallets and medications.

"I think it's terrible that somebody is preying on senior citizens," said Caitlyn Thomas, one of the residents at the building run by the nonprofit Senior Housing Assistance Group, or SHAG.

Thomas said her apartment was burglarized Saturday night.

"I had been sleeping through the whole thing. I was in the other room sleeping, made me feel really creepy," she said Wednesday. "They stole my wallet, all my ID and my cards, my EBT card, they stole cash and they stole my keys."

She said the burglar didn't just take her keys, but the keys to the front door of the building, too.

She is not alone when it comes to being the victim of a crime.

According to SHAG's corporate office, five residents in this Kent facility have been the victims of recent burglaries, four of which they say occurred due to unlocked patio doors.

But Grace Kupiec said her door was locked tight when her apartment was burglarized on Monday.

"Everything ... my Social (Security), my birth certificate" was taken, she said. "Most importantly, the pictures of my family and my husband."

SHAG Corporate said they are working with Kent police. But they're also warning residents to lock their doors and windows and not allow strangers in the building.