A masked man enters a home in Garyville on Sunday night.

He spots a woman, who runs to blockade herself inside an interior room that contains a small child.

The assailant tries to barge into the room but retreats from the home in the 100 block of Oakland Court when that proves unsuccessful.

That might be as scary a scenario as an adult by herself could face, but it represents something of a pattern across St. John the Baptist and St. Charles Parishes, where a startling number of brazen and violent home break-ins have taken place in recent weeks.

No one has been killed. However, as these assaults continue to accumulate — sometimes involving guns and knives — our collective luck will run out.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office is already investigating a Dec. 10 aggravated burglary in Reserve in which an unknown black man with a gun entered a 55-year-old Reserve woman’s home, struck her in the face, pushed her to the floor and forced her into a bathroom.

He eventually left after taking money from the victim’s purse.

Police have said they increased patrols in the targeted area and pledged to equip Central Avenue in Reserve with more surveillance cameras.

The tried-and-true measures of staying aware of your surroundings and making special efforts to lock all doors and windows seem to be the best advice local law enforcement has concerning prevention.

St. John authorities are working with those in St. Charles Parish, where Sheriff Greg Champagne said an unknown male entered a Destrehan residence through the back door, pointed a gun at a man and woman and demanded their money and cell phone on Dec. 4 in the 100 block of Villere Drive.

The gunman tried to grab the female victim and take her with him but was thwarted before exiting.

That suspect was described as a black male, approximately 5’, 8” tall and weighing around 140 pounds, which is similar to previous complaint calls.

St. Charles Parish authorities feel the Dec. 4 attack could be linked to an attempted break-in Thursday, where a New Sarpy man was arrested.

In that case, Champagne said the assailants were unsuccessful because furniture blocked their entry through an interior door of the residence.

Anyone with information regarding either St. John Parish home invasion is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office TIPS line at 985-359-TIPS or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111. Anyone with information on either St. Charles crime is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers at 1-877-903-STOP.

Whether the work of a coordinated crime ring or crimes of opportunity perpetuated by individual thugs, these break-ins and assaults are real threats to our safety.

Please take caution, watch out for suspicious activity in your neighborhood and alert law enforcement to anything out of the ordinary. If we’re lucky, your call could prevent the next break-in.