Groton — Groton City police are investigating four burglaries in the Thames Street area, including two in which homeowners slept as their houses were broken into, City Police Chief Thomas Davoren said.

On April 20, a home on Walker Hill Road was burglarized and on April 21, a house on Monument Street was broken into, Davoren said. In both instances, families slept inside as the burglar or burglars entered through a window and took pocketbooks, looking for whatever was handy on the kitchen table, he said.

On April 25, burglaries occurred during the overnight hours at Paul’s Pasta Shop at 223 Thames St. and Ralph’s Coffee and Donut Shop at 2 Eastern Point Road. A laptop and toaster were stolen, Davoren said.

“We believe the home burglaries were related, and just because of the proximity to each other we believe the commercial burglaries were related,” Davoren said. “Whether they’re related to each other, we don’t know.”

Residential burglaries carry additional penalties because they involve breaking into a dwelling at night, Davoren said.

“Those are high priority charges because there’s a high potential for violence if confronted by the homeowner,” he said.

City police brought a tracking dog in from the state police after the burglary on Walker Hill Road and a bloodhound from New London police following the burglary on Monument Street, Davoren said. He declined to provide addresses of the homes, citing an ongoing investigation.

Police have used "and will continue to use high visibility patrols", and are following up on leads developed during the patrols, he said. No arrests had been made as of Friday.

Davoren said it is uncommon in the city to have four burglaries in a short time in close proximity to one another.

“We obviously want to encourage people to secure their homes at night. Don’t take things for granted,” he said.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim