Tulsa County Authorities Warn About Thieves Taking Advantage Of Power Outages

Thieves are on the prowl, taking advantage of people without power and people staying away from their homes.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office said so far they haven't had any reports of break-ins, yet.

However, they said if you are leaving your house to stay somewhere else, make sure to lock your windows, doors, and don't post on social media about leaving your house.

The sheriff’s office said they are patrolling neighborhoods even more than normal because they know these types of situations attract thieves.

"At night especially, we are heavily patrolling those areas because a lot of people just aren't able to stay in their homes, so they are staying with friends or family or at a hotel. So we just want to be very visual in those areas without power to hopefully stave off any potential looters,” said Casey Roebuck with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff's office said they are also checking on people who can't leave their homes, to make sure they have what they need.

Burglars look for trends, so if there's always a car in your drive-way, make sure to leave one when you're gone. If there's always trash on your curb on trash day, have a neighbor leave a bag of trash there.

"We see anytime we have a weather disaster in Oklahoma, you see the very best in people, in terms of neighbors helping neighbors. But you also sometimes see the very worst in people; people trying to capitalize on people's misery, trying to get into their homes because they know the alarm systems are not on,” said Roebuck.

And just like going on vacation, don't post on social media about leaving your house.

"There's always the potential that somebody might see that, and look at it as an opportunity so if you do plan on leaving your home, you might want to keep that to your self until you get back,” said Roebuck.

If you see someone breaking into a home, don't confront them, but make sure to call 911.