ELKHART — Police and people who live in Elkhart there are on edge. They're dealing with home burglaries at the rate of almost 3 a day. Investigators say they're not happening in a specific part of town, making it even more difficult for them to catch the criminals.

Elkhart Police are hearing the same story too often.

Angela Zalal said her front door was wide open when she came home Saturday. Thieves stole her camera and some rings.

April J. Howard lives less than 2 miles away and said the same thing happened to her, but the thieves broke a window to get in.

"They took jewelery, they took a stereo system, they took a Black & Decker tool little kit, they also took clothes," she said.

John Smiley was home when thieves stole a Playstation and a cell phone from his apartment.

"[They] hit me right here in the eye with a pistol. Then kept telling me to get on the ground," Smiley told WSBT.

John, April and Angela aren't alone. In the past 10 days, theirs are just a few of the 25 home break-ins in Elkhart. Police say burglary numbers are unusually high right now. They haven't added extra patrols in the city, but they are trying to keep a closer eye on neighborhoods.

However, Lt. Ed Windbigler said that's tough to do when the same crime seems to be happening everywhere.

"If it's held to a geographical area then we can focus on it a little better, he explained. "When it's all over the city, we've got to tell [the officers] 'Hey this is what happened in your zone.'"

As the number of break-ins continues to rise, those who have already become victims are just trying to keep their homes and families safe.

April Howard said her cousin moved into the home because it's safer to have 2 adults with the children.

"My fiance went out and bought a shotgun," John Smiley told WSBT. "It isn't going to happen again up here."

Police say they think several different burglars are responsible for this latest string of break-ins. They arrested a few people last week they believe could be responsible for some of the thefts.

Investigators also say thieves broke into 5 Elkhart businesses over the past 10 days.

Break-ins usually increase in November and December, then police say they tend to drop off this time of year. St. Joseph County and South Bend Police recently dealt with a lot of home burglaries in a specific area, but say the problem doesn't seem to be as bad right now.