Concord Police Eye More than 30 Burglaries in the City

CONCORD, NH — A woman on Rumford Street arriving home on Aug. 18, 2016, walked into a burglary and her subsequent actions – as well as other witnesses – helped in leading police to arrest two for the alleged crime. However, not every homeowner that is a victim has been so lucky and currently, Concord Police investigators are eyeing more than 30 burglaries during the last few months around the city, according to police.

In Thursday’s case, Amanda Dodd of Manchester and Theresa Johnson of Concord allegedly pretended to be in the wrong home and quickly fled the area after being discovered. The homeowner gave a thorough description of the women to police, took a Snapchat video of one of the women in the home, and also quickly was able to discover items that were missing – a game console and games, as an example – that were allegedly found inside the multi-unit flophouse on North Spring Street where Johnson lived.

More often than not and apparently in Thursday’s case, too, according to police, the motivation to burglarize is fueled by the city’s continually escalating heroin/fentanyl and methamphetamine problem. According to Lt. Timothy O’Malley, the commander of the criminal investigations unit for the Concord Police Department, the primary motivation for Dodd and Johnson to allegedly burglarized the Rumford Street address yesterday was “related to drug use.”

Johnson allegedly explained that she and Dodd had drug habits, communicated about being “dope sick,” and needed money quickly, according to affidavits filed in Concord District Court. There alleged plan was to pawn electronic items for cash.

Also in the affidavit, during the time that police were investigating the Rumford Street burglary, reports of two other residential burglaries came into police on North Spring Street. One was off Washington Street, not far from the Rumford Street home burglary, and a second home was near Johnson’s apartment, according to detectives. Johnson allegedly admitted that she and Dodd and Johnson also burglarized those homes, according to affidavits, after items in Johnson’s apartment allegedly matched items missing from those homes.

However, police are investigating more than 30 other burglaries since this Spring, mostly center in the downtown and West End areas of the city. A few, though, were in the northern part of the city and the Heights, according to police.

O’Malley stated that many of the burglaries – not unlike the ones Dodd and Johnson were allegedly involved in – were done during the daytime hours when people were away at work. Police believe there are multiple suspects who have been perpetrating the burglaries, with some arrests already being made.

However, O’Malley noted, residents should call police (603-225-8600, Ext. 3728) or use the Concord Regional Crimeline (603-226-3100) to offer tips so investigators could solve the numerous burglaries police are working to solve. As the motto goes, if you see something, say something.