It might be my imagination, but this heat wave seems to have stirred up the criminal element in Bogalusa.

Blaming the heat for a few alarming incidents is the best I can do to explain what has been happening as of late. Having some folks taking personal responsibility for their actions is about as foreign a concept to them as anything.

As we all know, Facebook has a number of postings about people’s air conditioners in town being stolen in the middle of the day, especially in the Terrace area. Now these are some brazen characters who seem to thrive on taking advantage of others.

The units are being taken when thieves think nobody is at home. Citizens need to take every precaution possible to safeguard their homes and possessions.

Somebody apparently figured no one was at my house Monday afternoon as I had taken the car to work. Around 3 p.m., Gail said she saw someone in the carport, and they proceeded to jiggle the door handle in an attempt to enter the house. Our dog’s growing and barking alerted Gail to the situation. Apparently the dog scared off the would-be intruder. I never would have thought a chihuahua made for a good watchdog, but Paco proved me wrong. I had to give him an extra can of dog food for his deed.

If that wasn’t enough, we went to the ATM at our bank Wednesday morning. I saw one of Bogalusa’s homeless across the street as we pulled in.

I didn’t think anything of it and looked off. Next thing I knew he was behind us. He was a little too close for our comfort.

As we pulled off, he went up to the ATM looking like he was attempting to get receipts out of the machine. He was seen doing that twice in one day. The bank was contacted.

Bank employees know who he is but seemed to brush it off. We’ve seen him, but he would scare the daylights out of an unsuspecting person if someone drove up to the ATM during evening hours. An experience like that is bad for business.

I don’t think it’s the heat that has made the guy at the bank a little loony. If he doesn’t watch it, I’ll put Paco on him.

Randy Hammons is a staff writer for the Daily News. He can be contacted by calling 985-732-2565 or by email at randy.hammons@bogalusadailynews.com.