Like a funeral procession, parents and their children have shown up on Sheri Olsen’s doorstep the past several weeks bearing flowers, notes and even money to show their condolences.

“I’m sorry” messages have flooded her e-mail inbox and her phone won’t stop ringing.

But the only loss the Olsen family has suffered is their sense of security.

“People keep telling me it’s unbelievable. It doesn’t seem like this could happen,” Olsen said as she recounted what happened.

On Saturday, May 30, Olsen’s home in the Houghton neighborhood was burglarized. But when the family found out who the perpetrators were, they were even more devastated.

“These weren’t strangers – these were friends,” Olsen said of the 20-plus kids who allegedly broke into her home, threw a party and stole from her family. “I think the most amazing thing is it came from kids who spent a lot of time in this house, had traveled with us, have spent family time with us, so they had to have thought about this before.”

Prior to the burglary, one of Olsen’s sons who attends Kirkland Junior High School spoke with some friends at the lunch table about his parents who would be going out of town, but didn’t think much of it.

Some of the events that occurred that weekend are still unclear as the mystery unfolds, but much of what Olsen has pieced together she gathered from clues left behind: bloody shorts, backpacks, flip flops, coats marked with names, a Kirkland American Little League jacket – and plenty of purple.

“So this clears it up right away that it’s probably not Bellevue Wolverines, but it’s probably a Kirkland crowd.”

Some time in the afternoon on May 30, a small group of kids reportedly broke into Olsen’s home “creatively through the cat door.” Once inside, “they go to the fridge, they drink milk from the cartoon, they go downstairs, they play Xbox, someone slipped my phone in their pocket,” Olsen said.

Later that night, some time after 11 p.m., more than 20 kids – many of them allegedly Kirkland Junior High students – broke into her home and threw a party. Around 4 a.m., one of Olsen’s neighbors heard loud music and went to her house to break up the party. The neighbor called Olsen’s phone and left a message, though she didn’t get it until later the next morning, at which time she notified Kirkland Police.

That morning, another neighbor also reported to Olsen that she saw several kids go through Olsen’s backyard and try to get into the house. Olsen again called police, though the kids were gone by the time police arrived at her home.

“When I got home, I was just devastated. It was 10 times worse than I had expected,” Olsen said, recalling the mess left behind: moved furniture, broken beer bottles, apples strewn about that were used as pipes to smoke marijuana, and damaged wooden floors, granite counter tops and stained walls.

The family also discovered that several items were stolen, including Xbox games, diamond earrings, several other pieces of jewelry and clothes.

Olsen said her son who attends Kirkland Junior High was “so blown away” that he fell to the ground when he saw what happened. Another son found that nine kids had logged onto their MySpace accounts from his computer.

“So this is how I begin my investigation – the coat and the nine names of kids,” Olsen said of the jacket stenciled with the name of a coach from Kirkland American Little League.

She immediately got on the phone and started calling the kid’s parents of the names she had. From those kids, names of other kids were revealed.

“Word flew just like wild fire,” she said, until their phone wouldn’t stop ringing and mothers brought their children by to apologize face-to-face. “I’ve had a half a dozen mothers bawling, either sitting on the couch with me or calling me, they were so sorry. Ninety percent of the parents have been heartfelt and cooperative.”

Many parents who believe their child may be involved in the incident have asked Olsen what they can do. Her answer: go give a statement.

Kirkland Police Sergeant Robert Saloum said the department took down many statements last week as police investigate what happened. He couldn’t comment on any specifics of the case as it is still under investigation.

Saloum did say, however, that the incident is “not a normal occurrence” in Kirkland. He also noted 11 burglaries occurred last June and the same number happened this June as well, which “is consistent with the first really warm month.”

In warmer weather, many people tend to leave their windows open. Saloum urged residents to be more diligent and keep windows and doors locked.

Kirkland Junior High Vice Principal Craig Mott declined to comment on how the incident has impacted students because the situation is “not school-related.”

Olsen said her family is cooperating with police and also believes the kids should “have to pay consequences for their behavior.”

Though her family is devastated by what happened, she has told parents “I’d rather be me than them. Now they have to figure out what to do about this.”

Residential burglary prevention

Kirkland Police offer these tips:

When the weather turns warm, windows and doors are kept open more often to let cool air in and families may go on vacation leaving the home unoccupied. Residential burglars often take advantage of the opportunity to easily enter a home with unlocked doors and windows.

Although most residential burglaries happen when no one is inside, criminals are known to take the risk even when someone is at home. Criminals only need a few seconds to steal electronics, jewelry and other valuable items. The Kirkland Police Department offers the following crime prevention tips to protect your residence from burglary:

• Lock doors and windows.

• Do not leave windows open, even on the upper levels.

• Reinforce windows and sliding glass doors with secondary locks or dowels (rods) that fit securely in windows. Dowels can be made of wood, PVC pipe or metal.

• Do not hide extra keys to the house.

• Look at your residence like a burglar would. If you can get into your house without a key, so can the burglar.

• Photograph and record all of the serial numbers of your valuables. Keep the list and photographs in a safety deposit box.

• When on vacation, have a trusted neighbor take care of your residence, including

picking up your mail and newspaper.

• Trim all hedges and shrubs so they are not covering windows. Overgrown plants

provide good hiding places for burglars and is an indication that you may be away from your home.

• Having a dog or an alarm system may deter some criminals.

• Start a Neighborhood Watch Program to help neighbors look out for one another and to report suspicious activities.

For additional crime prevention information, contact Neighborhood Resource Officer Allan O’Neill at 425-587-3451 or aoneill@ci.kirkland.wa.us.