Steve Severance of Steve’s Thrift, Antiques & Collectibles on East Street points to where a burglar tried to force open the rear door to his East Street store. The burglar was unable to get into the store. Photo by Rob Wills, The Northfield News Over the last two weeks, Northfield’s downtown has suffered a rash of burglaries and attemted break-ins at stores.

Burglars got into the Square Biscuit and Depot Square Pizza. They also tried to break into Randy’s barbershop and attempted to break into the thrift store on East Street.

Acting Chief Outten said that the burglaries took place over the last two weeks with attempts to get in through exterior doors during the night when the businesses were closed.

The chief said that the investigation is continuing and the police may have some leads. He asked everyone to be vigilant and give police a call if they see anything suspicious.

Steve Severance said that last Tuesday morning, “I went to unlock my backdoor. I noticed that it was very hard to unlock. I could see the damage someone had done from the outside where someone must have used a bar to pry it open. I feel fortunate they didn’t gain entry,” he said. “They must have been desperate to come on th eback porch next to apartments where people were sleeping,” he added.

Randy Peace said that he came in on Monday morning last week. “I didn’t want any lost haircuts,” the barber said. “I came down Monday around 8 a.m. and noticed that the door had been tampered with. Looks like someone took a crowbar trying to pry it open. It is severely damaged. It’s a sign of the times and we need to start to come together as a community and we need police coverage from 4 a.m. to when businesses open up. Bring back some old time police work,” he added.

Police said that entry was made to the Depot Square Pizza and Square Biscuit but owners of those businesses did not return telephone calls from the News about the incidents.