At least five homes along Point White were broken into early Thursday morning, as a burglar moved down the beach toward Crystal Springs looking for unsecured doors and windows.

Officers were summoned to the neighborhood at 2 a.m., when a resident alerted by a barking dog discovered someone trying to enter his home through a deck door.

Officers tracked the suspect down the beach but lost the trail on the rocks, Bainbridge Police Detective Scott Anderson said. Police believe the suspect eluded them by breaking into an unoccupied home across the road and staying there until dawn.

Several homes from which owners were away were “significantly ransacked,” with drawers searched and papers strewn about. Reports of those break-ins came in from caretakers or neighbors later that morning.

“We’ll have no idea what was stolen until the owners return home,” Anderson said.

The spree culminated with several car prowls and the theft of a pickup truck from a garage.

The vehicle, which had not been recovered Friday morning, was described as a 1996 Ford Ranger pickup, forest green in color with a matching canopy, and license number A28691C. The truck has an “NRA” sticker in the back window, and a “Bush/Cheney” bumper sticker.

Other missing items included a laptop computer and several hand-held organizers.

The burglaries are believed to be connected to a similar spree that hit Point White and Pleasant Beach in October. The suspect travels the neighborhoods on foot, entering homes even as the occupants sleep upstairs.

Anderson urged residents in those areas to lock doors and windows, and to call 911 to report suspcious activity.

Police do believe they have broken a case involving two earlier break-ins unrelated to the south-end spree. A suspect was arrested earlier this month while allegedly trying to pass a forged check at a Poulsbo bank, Anderson said.

The suspect is believed to be responsible for two August burglaries on Bainbridge Island, in which the front doors of homes on Ericksen Avenue and Sportsman Club Road were kicked in.

That suspect, a resident of unincorporated Kitsap County, was being held in jail as prosecutors sorted through an array of possible charges.

The man has previous convictions for burglary and assault, police said.