The Wood County Sheriff's Office has identified a group of individuals responsible for a string of break-ins in the county.

According to a press release from the sheriff's office, on Aug. 14, two houses were burglarized in the Alba-Golden area. The same day, three houses were burglarized in the Hoard area. Gun safes were stolen from two of these houses. Wood County investigators worked closely with other agencies on these cases, which lead to the eventual identification of the suspects: following a break-in on Aug. 29 in Smith County, investigators were able to confirm that the same suspects were behind the Wood County burglaries.

The sheriff's office is in the process of writing several arrest warrants for the individuals, who also face several charges in Smith and Van Zandt counties, according to the release.

"These individuals have strong gang ties with several being identified as active gang members in the Tyler area," Wood County Sheriff Jim Brown said in the release.

In the release, Brown released the following suspect M.O.:

"These individuals commonly used Reliant Energy T-shirts and would approach a house they believed to be empty. Two of the suspects would approach the front door and knock. If someone answered the door, they would ask if they were happy with their current energy provider. They would then leave the residence. If no one answered the door, the suspects would normally make forced entry in the front door of the residence. Once inside the residence, the suspects would do a "sweep" of the house to make sure no one was home. The suspect's vehicle would then drive to the back of the house where an entry was made and the rest of the suspects would enter the house and remove items. These burglaries were committed during the day."

In order to protect citizens from further burglaries, the sheriff's office provided this advice:

- Leave a vehicle visible when possible in the driveway.

- Know your neighbors and have them keep an eye on your house and return the favor.

- Install alarms if possible.

- Call the Sheriff's Office and report any suspicious activity in your neighborhood.

- Do not enter your residence if you suspect unknown persons may be present.