9781422280270

Property crimes can cause more than financial suffering, as when stolen jewelry has sentimental value.

“Prisoners in Our Own Home” “We used to be trusting; we weren’t suspicious of anyone, but now we keep our doors locked all the time,” said 83-year-old Blasco Scrofano to Fernanda Santos of the New Hampshire Eagle-Tribune . That was before Wayne J. Cameron, 34, forced his way into the Scrofanos’ home in Lawrence, NH, and beat the elderly couple with an iron crowbar. A long-term heroin addict with a string of previous convictions, Cameron left Blasco and Beatrice Scrofano in no doubt that he meant business. He hit Mr. Scrofano twice as he knelt to open the safe in which he kept jewelry and savings.  Cameron made off with $10,000 in cash and valuables, but the damage he had done to his victims was far more than monetary. “This man left me in fear,” said Mrs. Scrofano, “and this is a fear that will never leave me.” Cameron was eventually caught and sentenced to serve two concurrent 20-year terms, but Blasco and Beatrice feel that they, too, are doing time—always on edge, afraid to go out. “We are prisoners in our own home,” said Mr. Scrofano.

S topping C rime : T he P olice

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