While other issues were under discussion at the Shohola Township meeting on August 14, it was dominated by the issue that has been clouding the township all summer. A burglar has been targeting Shohola cars and homes all season. No one has been arrested yet, or identified as a person of interest. Police Chief Scott Carney was present at the meeting, but made no official statement, except for commenting that the burglaries were the subject of an ongoing investigation. Local police did not return calls related to this article.

The burglaries began sometime in June and have affected at least 20 individuals in all, although the exact number will probably never be known. The perpetrator seems to prefer relatively isolated homes in heavily wooded areas with few ways in or out via vehicle, and appears to be working alone.

The incidents have largely been confined to the northern region of the township, the area closest to the Delaware River and Barryville, NY. Residents who live in the general area of Twin Lakes between Bee Hollow and the Barryville Bridge, or in the German Hill area, and who left cars unlocked overnight, had a good chance that the thief entered their car during the early morning hours at some point over the past few months.

The thief appears to be looking mostly for cash. While he favors cars, he has entered residences at least three or four times over the course of the summer in the early morning hours. So far, no signs of forcible entry have been reported. The thief has also visited some cars more than once.

Two households have been hit particularly hard. The first is a home inhabited by a family on German Hill Road who wished not to be identified. Sometime in June, a large amount of cash went missing from the homeowner’s truck. The second incident occurred on July 27. The household was awakened by their dogs’ barking.

The owner of the truck got out of bed and saw a tall, thin man in a dark hoodie with a miner’s light on his head standing directly in front of the kitchen’s glass doors looking into the house. The homeowner gave chase, getting into his car in hope of finding the crook getting into his own vehicle. But as soon as the thief turned off his light, he disappeared into the woods and darkness and could not be found.

The lack of vehicle at the time of the crimes, or at least of one parked anywhere near them, seems to be one of his trademarks. He arrives and disappears by foot. Considering the remote areas he is hitting, this is certainly the easiest way to come and go undetected. A vehicle at these odd hours would be likely to awaken at least one resident of the area. The family found finger and handprints on the mother’s car, and surmises that the perpetrator, frustrated by finding far less money in the truck the second time, was then seeking entry into the family home.

The criminal entered another home belonging to a couple living in another quiet, wooded and relatively remote area of the township. This area is directly off Twin Lakes Road, and that is the only access in or out via car in this quiet area of only a dozen or so homes on over somewhat less than a hundred acres.

It took the couple, who also wished to remain anonymous, several months to understand that their home was being regularly invaded during the early morning hours. It was the female homeowner’s habit to leave her pocketbook on the counter or chair just inside the front door. While she felt that she was continuously shorter on cash in her bag than she anticipated, the idea that someone was entering her home, deliberately taking her money and leaving everything else untouched, never crossed her mind. But as summer progressed, the losses became larger and more obvious.

One night, the couple went to bed, knowing full well that they had left a large sum of cash on their kitchen counter, and when they awoke the next morning, the cash was gone. Police were then notified. Within a day or two of this episode, a friend staying in the guest cottage on the property also found $200 in cash gone from her unlocked car.

The couple installed a motion-activated camera at their home in an attempt to catch the thief.

Some residents suspect the railroad tracks may be playing a role in the thefts because the tracks run directly through the middle of the area that has been hit, and all affected properties are within easy access of it. In fact, the homeowners, who have been invaded multiple times, were easily able to show that a trail has been made by someone repeatedly walking down the short piece of railroad embankment between the rail itself and the road immediately in front of their home.

Many local teens frequently use the tracks as a shortcut into town and to the river, but it is not known to be used at night.

At the township meeting, the supervisors assured members of the public that the two officers that cover Shohola Township 40 hours a week have been working overtime and to the point of exhaustion in their efforts to apprehend this man. In fact, the addition of another part-time officer has been approved, and that officer will begin working shortly. Despite this, some local residents feel that this thief, seemingly so unsophisticated in his methods, should have been caught long ago. The council pointed out that the township is very large and contains many isolated areas, making it a particularly difficult case to solve.