SANTA ROSA (BCN)--Santa Rosa police are investigating a series of burglaries in  April and May, including two cases in which the victims' homes were set on  fire.

     

The most recent incident occurred on Saturday, when residents of  the 3600 block of Banyan Place arrived home to find their house burning.

     

Once the blaze was extinguished, the victims realized their home  had also been burglarized, according to police.

     

On April 20 at around 4 p.m., a fire was reported in the 1500  block of Banyan Place, just blocks away where Saturday's fire occurred. 

     

The residents there discovered their home had been burglarized as  well, and a neighbor reported seeing a man knocking on the front door of the  home before the fire started, police said.

     

The suspect was described as a man between 40 and 50 years old,  possibly wearing a light-colored T-shirt and jeans.

 

Three other burglaries were reported in the same neighborhood in  April, though the others did not involve arson, police said.

     

A few hours before the April 20 burglary, a burglary was committed  blocks away, in the 3800 block of Coffey Lane.

     

On April 16, less than a mile from the Coffey Lane robbery,  another burglary was reported in the 1900 block of Camino del Prado. The  victims in that case discovered that the house had been burglarized overnight  and that some of their possessions were missing.

     

On April 5, in the same general neighborhood, a daytime burglary  was discovered in the 1300 block of Holly Park Way.

     

Police are asking anyone with information about the crimes to  contact Santa Rosa police at (707) 543-3575. A $2,500 reward has been offered  for information leading to an arrest in the case.

 

(Copyright 2012, Bay City News. All Rights Reserved.)