Residents of Kato and Pano Gouves are outraged over the fact that the scores of burglaries plaguing their villages over the past few years are not only continuing, but are now turning violent.

The Gouves crime scene where shots were fired

"Now they're even using guns," declared a homeowner from Pano Gouves, who was a burglary victim last year. "This is terrible and something must be done!"

In the latest incident (at the time of this writing), Mr. and Mrs. Aretakis of Kato Gouves were out of their house, but nearby, when their mobile phone, connected to their house alarm, alerted them of a possible intruder.

"We were home in minutes," Mr. Aretakis related, "and discovered two men attempting to break in the door. I yelled at them and they started to run away, then one turned and fired a gun. He shot in the air twice to scare me . . . and it worked! Who knows? The next shot could have been at my wife or me."

Responding to the call for help, the Hersonisos police arrived a short time later and began an immediate investigation of the crime scene. Apparently, they checked out some suspicious footprints and collected other evidence.  

"As of this time we're still investigating," said Deputy Chief Emmanuil Petrakis, when contacted by The Khronicles. "This incident, as well as the others in the area."

Shortly after the Aretakis burglary attempt, a known criminal from Kato Gouves, who had been a fugitive since escaping from the Patra prison two years ago, was captured at a cantina in Kako Oros, just a few kilometres from the crime scene.

The news of his arrest spread through the Gouves villages, leaving residents hopeful that the culprit responsible for the break-ins was finally caught. However, their hopes were dampened by Chief Petrakis.

"Unfortunately, at this time we have not been able to tie him to any of the Gouves burglaries," he said. "But we are hopeful something will break soon."

The Aretakis family home was burglarized twice before over the past three years, and an elaborate alarm system had been installed after the second robbery.

While the burglaries of Kato and Pano Gouves have been in the spotlight recently, those villages are certainly not alone as hot-spots of criminal activity.

Nikos Roukounakis of Hersonisos, who lives on a fairly heavily-travelled road going from Hersonisos' main street to Pano Hersonissos, said his house was robbed recently, and reported that "16 of the 18 houses on my street" were burglarized over the winter season.

"They got everything from my house, TV, stereo, jewellery and money," he said. "And, the ironic thing about it was that at the time of the break-in I was visiting a neighbour's home who happens to be a cop. And, what was one of the topics of discussion? Why, the high number of local burglaries, of course. That's the main subject any place you go these days."

As reported in last month's edition of The Khronicles, the Hersonisos Police Department is attempting to cope with this avalanche of crimes in its area, and is eagerly awaiting the announcement of "diplomatic policy plan" from the main Iraklion police department, which is expected to be an important factor in helping to eliminate many of the existing problems.

However, as one recent victim, under the condition of anonymity, observed: "With all the abuse hurled at the police these days for, in most cases, simply for trying to do their job, they have developed a non-confrontation attitude . . . and the criminals are taking advantage of this."