String of burglaries around Rossanley Drive

MEDFORD, Ore. — Over the weekend a Medford mans business had been broken into through a hole that was cut into its wall, but it turns out, this has happened to a lot more businesses in the neighborhood.

“My wife and I started asking around and we found that everybody along this line has had their fences cut,” Phillip Schiefer, business owner on Rossanley drive, said.

Just in the past couple of weeks more than four businesses have been broken into in the same unusual way. Intruders cut through the fence around the property and then make a hole in the wall.

“We found that they had cut through the fence and then removed the screws from the side of the building and then opened up the building, dug out the insulation and came in,” Schiefer said.

Most times, the intruders took off with expensive material. For Jeff Copple, owner of J.C. Auto Sales, his truck and gun were stolen and for Ian Newlove, general manager of Applegate Soils and Hydroponics, a generator was stolen.

“We actually had them cut our fence, open the gate and take a generator from one of the water trucks,” Newlove said.

Schiefer says police told him, criminals are attracted to the area but their aren’t a lot of lights around, making it easier for them to get away with burglary.

“It’s an issue, we’ve talked to the police, all of us I guess have filed reports,” Schiefer said.

But now that the owners have figured out that this is an issue they’ve all been facing, they’re trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening in the future.

Schiefer says he approached his neighbors about going in together on an armed security guard to patrol the area at night.

But while they decide on that, he’s still taking matter into his own hands by increasing his security.

“The armed security, the roving patrol, cameras, lights and new security in the building,” Schiefer said of all the things he’ll be adding.

He’s not the only one in the area who plans to enhance their security. Newlove says he’ll also be making new additions.

“Additional barbed wire, we basically have our nights watch man come a little bit earlier and have him stay a little bit later,” Newlove said. “Just so there’s a smaller window of time that it could happen.”

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