The first burglary was alarming, coming home July 20 to a place so ransacked that the 84-year-old resident initially couldn’t fully open her front door. The second burglary inside her Kensington home happened a few days later as she slept.

The first time, items from her safe were stolen. The second time, a thief slipped in and stole her car keys and her fanny pack with money, credit cards and identification. Also gone when she woke was her car and her much-needed walker inside it.

A few blocks over earlier this year, in March and April, the adult daughter of an elderly Kensington homeowner who died late last year noticed a series of break-ins at the vacant home. So when a notification from the home security system roused her early May 28, she drove over. Inside, she found two men and a woman. As they fled, she ripped an item from one man’s hands and began punching him. “I was just filled with rage,” she said.

Six weeks later, another alarm notification. After police found no one inside — “They did a thorough search,” she said — she entered the home. She was still there five hours later when a man and a woman — different people from the May burglary — walked down the stairs and headed out the front door. She surmises they’d been hiding in the attic, which has an obscured entrance.

“They waved at me on their way out,” she said. “Really a cheeky grin.”

Two homes, blocks apart, hit at least twice in relatively short succession by burglars. The victims — who found each other earlier this month and later bonded over their similar experiences — shared their stories with the Union-Tribune last week. The Union-Tribune agreed not to fully identify them because they are crime victims and fear future victimization.

The burglaries have Kensington residents talking. Several commenters on social media site Nextdoor raised concerns about how the thieves are accessing the homes. Some are calling for license plate readers to be installed.

“I think there has been an increased level of awareness,” said Tom Hebrank, president of the Kensington Community Association, which coordinates local activities, including a National Night Out event slated for 5 p.m. Tuesday, which highlights law enforcement and first responders.

“I think people have been concerned,” Hebrank said. “But I have also personally seen many more police cars driving around and showing their presence here.”

Police say the burglaries may be related, but there is no evidence directly linking the two and both remain under investigation. No other cases have been identified.

“Mid City Division and SDPD takes these incidents extremely serious, particularly given the age of the victims and the impact these crimes have had on the community,” the department said in a statement Wednesday.

Police noted they could not comment on the active investigations or discuss enforcement strategies but said these investigations “have received significant attention and resources.” That work includes taking fingerprints, canvassing for video footage and analyzing license plate reader data. On top of that, officers have conducted surveillance in the area and hiked canyons “checking areas where suspects could potentially be frequenting or concealing themselves.”

The department cautioned that “information circulating publicly or through neighborhood discussions may not always accurately reflect the facts known to investigators.”

Data provided by police indicate burglaries in the department’s Mid City Division — between Interstate 8 and state Route 94, roughly from North Park to La Mesa, but with carve-outs — were down about 16% in the first six months of this year compared to the first six months of last year, dropping from 129 burglaries to 108.

Vehicle theft was down 21% over that same stretch, dropping from 211 stolen cars to 167, department numbers show.

The woman with a family home in Kensington said that in the few days before she encountered the trio in the home in late May, neighbors spotted a U-Haul in its driveway shortly before noon, and there was a blond woman and two men with it. She suspects it could have been the same crew. She doesn’t think anything was taken at that point but saw items had been moved in the backyard.

The woman also said that, during an April break-in, a container with her mother’s ashes was taken. Someone returned it a few days later, leaving it in a backpack in a conspicuous spot near the garage.

“At least I’m not living there like (the 84-year-old victim) is,” she said. “That’s a whole different level of awfulness.”

That victim, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Josie, said it was unsettling to arrive home after a few days away to find her house ransacked. Every room, all the drawers pulled out, dumped, rummaged through. So much so, there was not a clear path for her to walk.

But the instance, a few days later, when someone entered the home while she was inside, that was unnerving. And the loss of her car and identification have been “paralyzing,” she said. Hours after her car was taken, Josie got a fraud alert from her bank. Her card had been used in three cities in Orange County.

But there has been some good news. Josie’s car was located in Chula Vista, likely dumped there shortly after the theft, she said. She is working to get it returned. And she has her walker back.