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Thieves targeting new homes in St. Johns County

Thieves are targeting new homes in St. Johns County.

It's a growing problem in St. Johns County, where the population is booming.

Deputies said thieves wait for new appliances to be dropped off and that’s when they make their move.

This week, five homes were burglarized in a development.

Jeralyn Forcier thinks she saw the burglars.

“A box truck, U-Haul followed me into my neighborhood with a white car that came out of the woods," Forcier said. "I asked them where they were going and what they needed and they didn’t answer me properly. And low and behold, the next day, there was a lot of theft in our neighborhood.”

AC units and dishwashers were some of the items stolen. Just last week, six police reports listed similar items stolen from homes under construction in a different area of the county.

Commander Chuck Mulligan with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said the thieves target valuable items like AC units, counter tops and other appliances.

“They have a cargo van or truck that comes in behind them and they're able to quickly unload these appliances," he said.

According to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, there were 23 burglaries to construction sites in 2012. The number jumped to 135 in 2014.

So far this year there have been 76, a number that could rise as more homes go up.

"We try to keep as many patrol cars as we can in these construction zones at night,” Mulligan said.

Forcier said people should be careful and watch around the houses to see if things are coming out instead of going in.