The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Residential burglaries are on the rise in Dayton, especially in vacant homes, according to Sheriff Walt Hessler. He is urging neighbors call law enforcement as soon as they see any suspicious activity to catch the burglars.

"We've never had this serious of a problem before," Hessler said. "This is the first time."

The burglaries in Dayton have become more frequent over the past two or three months, he said. This year, there have been six non-residential burglaries, meaning businesses were broken into, and 21 reported residential burglaries.

The sheriff said the recent spike in repo...