Residents of Crestview have started locking their doors and keeping a closer eye on their neighbours' homes after a spate of break-ins and thefts over the past few weeks.

Squanga Avenue resident Donna Hardie told the Star she was the victim of a break-in this week.

She and her husband had headed downtown to do some shopping last Sunday afternoon.

In the brief time they were away from home, someone pried open a back window and wrenched it off its hinges so he or she could crawl in.

"Whoever it was didn't stay long,” Hardie said, probably because the house alarm went off immediately.

When the Hardies returned home after being gone for about an hour, they found their front door open and the alarm still blasting.

A neighbour told Hardie she had been out walking at the time the alarm went off and saw a young man running down the street away from the house.

"He stopped and said, ‘Have you seen my wife and baby, they're supposed to be somewhere around here,'” Hardie recounted

"And my neighbour said, ‘No, but I think it's very strange that a house alarm is ringing and you are running in the opposite direction.' And the man ran away.”

The forthright neighbour then walked to the house and waited for the Hardies to get home.

Nothing was stolen, but Hardie said fixing the window will cost at least $500.

The whole incident made Hardie think of a strange encounter she had about two months ago.

"Our kids had just left after coming for dinner. It was late and I had just changed into my nightgown,” Hardie said.

"My husband called up to me, ‘There's someone at the door,' so I went to the door thinking it would be my daughter.

"As I opened the door, the person on the other side opened it at the same time. It was a young woman – well-dressed, wearing a hoodie – and she said ‘Oh, I must have the wrong house,' and she just turned around and walked down the stairs, where a young man in a hoodie was sitting waiting.”

Hardie was a little perturbed by the fact the woman was opening the door.

She didn't think much of it until she heard a neighbour's house had been entered and her purse stolen while the family was at home sleeping.

Another neighbour also had her purse stolen while she was out for a walk.

Now the block is abuzz, and at least four others have reported break-ins or walk-ins.

"And all within a two-block radius,” Hardie said. "It makes you feel like someone must be hanging around watching.”

Whitehorse RCMP confirmed Thursday they have received a bevy of complaints from the neighbourhood, as well as from Porter Creek.

"They appear to be crimes of opportunity. People leaving their doors open,” said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Don Rogers.

"Usually happening between 8 (a.m.) and noon.”

He said "it's fair to say they're out actively looking for the opportunity, and we're providing it to them by not taking some simple precautions.

"Number one: Lock your doors at all times, whether you're in the house or not.

"Don't hang your keys for your home or your vehicle in a place they can be seen. Keep your homes well-lit; don't let papers and fliers pile up, and same goes for keeping your walkway swept. Consider getting an alarm.

"The biggest thing, though,” Rogers said, "is locking your cars and not leaving spare keys around.”

According to him, vehicle theft remains at the top of the crimes-reported list, and along with walk-ins, takes up an enormous amount of investigators' time.

"It's frustrating for us because they are very difficult to solve, and people expect us to solve them, but unless we catch them in the act or they leave something behind, we have very little to work with.”