DENVER (CBS4) – Burglars who have broken into 19 homes in a south Denver neighborhood have been spotted for the first time, giving police new evidence in a crime spree that has shaken residents.

A neighbor made eye contact with one of the two men as they fled the home next door Monday night.

“I saw them. I don’t want them retaliating on me. I just want them caught,” the neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, said.

Two men kicked in the back door of Melanie Golden’s house in the Southmoor Park neighborhood on Roslyn Street, splintering her door and shattering the glass. She was not home.

“They were in and out in five minutes,” she said.

The men stole two large boxes of jewelry from her bedroom, including a pin that had been in the family for nearly a century.

“That had been passed down to my grandmother, who then passed it down to me,” Golden said. “The violation of that is unbelievable.”

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The witness described them as African-American men in their early 20s around 6 feet tall in dark clothing.

“I don’t know if you can understand the feeling of someone violently breaking into your home,” Golden said. “It’s horrible to have your back door literally kicked in.”

CBS4 first reported the story Monday night. Just 90 minutes before the story aired at 10 p.m., the burglars struck again. Some of the homes have been robbed with homeowners inside.

“It should not be happening. They need to catch these guys. It’s got to stop,” she said.