A teenage boy returned to his Luton home to find a burglar ransacking it on Sunday evening.
The incident took place at around 5.15pm when the teenager returned to his home in Pomfret Avenue to encounter the offender inside the house.
The youngster quickly ran out of the property and hid while the offender fled with a number of carrier bags and a rucksack which contained a large collection of jewellery items and a number of laptop computers as well as a scanner and digital camera.
Detective Constable Scott Hannam, who is investigating the incident, is keen to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident and may have seen the offender leaving the house.
DC Hannam said: “There were quite a lot of residents out and about in Pomfret Avenue at the time of the burglary so I’m hoping that someone may have seen the offender who was a white man, in his forties and with a distinctive tattoo on the left hand side of his neck.
“This was a distressing incident for the youngster to have experienced and after the offender had left the area, the victim was comforted by an elderly couple who could see that he was extremely upset.
“I’m keen to locate this couple as well as they may have important information about what happened on Sunday evening.”
If you have information relating to this incident, contact DC Hannam, in confidence, on 01582 394353, the non-emergency 101 number, or text information to 07786 200011.
Alternatively contact independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.