Northern Marion County home invasions raise

As police continue to investigate a string of violent home invasions in northern Marion County over the past several days, neighborhood groups are taking action.

The violence started Oct. 24 when four young men armed with guns robbed a home in the 7000 block of North Spring Mill Road. Police say the homeowners were tied up while the men ransacked the house and made off in one of the victims’ vehicles. The victims also were assaulted and sustained minor injuries.

Tuesday morning, about 3 miles away, four men broke into a house in the 800 block of East 79th Street in the Windcombe neighborhood. They shot one woman and assaulted another before fleeing in the victims’ three vehicles.

Both incidents remain under investigation, and police will not publicly speculate as to whether the invasions are related.

But local neighborhood association representatives say they are concerned about the rash of crime and are looking for ways to keep one another safe.

“These last incidents were extremely brazen, and I think that’s what’s terrified people,” said Terry O’Brien, a Meridian Hills town councilman. Meridian Hills borders the site of the Oct. 24 incident and is close to the second.

“Your heart goes out for the families that were affected, but it does put the fear of God in you when you think you can’t go in your backyard to rake leaves or leave your garage door open without something bad happening.”

O’Brien said Meridian Hills is planning a meeting for its residents and has been consulting with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the town’s part-time police patrols.

In the Windcombe neighborhood, the attitude is similar. Paul Forbes, president of the Windcombe Neighborhood Association, said he has contacted CrimeStoppers and officers at IMPD about how the neighborhood can best proceed after Tuesday’s home invasion.

“We’re keeping everybody abreast of everything we know,” Forbes said, adding that he hopes to hold a meeting with residents and police officers in December.

“I’ve been here 23 years,” he said. “It’s outrageous. Nobody would think that that could happen here.”

IMPD spokesman Chris Bailey said police are asking anyone with knowledge about either home invasion to step forward.