Robbery at My Brother's House - A Preventable Crime

[raebates]

My brother's house was broken into a 1 p.m. today. He lives in Indianapolis. The thieves broke down the side door, cut the cable to the TV, and took the TV over the fence. My brother has an alarm, so the TV's the only thing they got. One of them lost a diamond stud during the robbery, so there's at least one piece of evidence. (Where's the CSI team when you need them? They'd have caught the guys buy now. LOL!) My brother had the serial number for the TV, so that information will be distributed to local pawn shops.

My brother was working. My SIL was out shopping, and the kids were at her mom's.

The police told him that there has been a rash of burglaries in the city. Crime is up 25-30% in the suburbs, so it's probably gone up even more in the city. My brother and his wife have open windows in their family room (no blinds, shades, or drapes--just sheers). The officer told them that people walking by can see exactly what they have. That made it easier for them to choose his house.

So, if you live where there is a possibility of foot traffic (or slow vehicular traffic), be sure to close your blinds, drapes, or shades. You don't want to make it any easier for the bad guys.

 

[rennea]

Oh how terrible Rae. It is such a violation when this happens. Thank goodness the kids were not home alone when it happened.

 

[Koolotus]

Thanks for the heads up!
I am glad nothing else was taken and no one was home.
I was just at a neighborhood tea, and one of the ladies commented on how hard I had been working all fall. When I looked confused she said that my office was like a fishbowl and she used to see me every night chatting on the phone or on the computer while she closed her drapes. eek/!
I have a nice "corner" office/meeting room and the whole office section is all windows, with, you guessed it...sheers.
In the winter I hang fleece because it is drafty, but I guess I will need to invest in something different!

 

[raebates]

I'm sure he feels terribly violated. Since the kids are only 5 and 2 1/2, there isn't much chance that they'd have been home alone. That would have been a whole other issue. The officers speculate that they probably rang the doorbell first. They most likely only broke in once they were sure no one was home. My brother has a dog, but it's a big old golden retriever. She might have licked them to death or beaten them with her tail, but that's about it. Then again, if she had been a threat, they might have hurt her. You never know.

 

[Jennie4PC]

Rae that is horrible, one other thing I heard was that thieves would canvas the neighborhood right after Christmas to see what people got. Since people take thier boxes out to the garbage.

 

[rennea]

Did you guys hear about the guy that was just caught living in a families attic? It's been on the news today. The family started having food, clothing and a laptop went missing. One of the family members discovered footprints on the carpet below the attic door and called police!

 

[Jennie4PC]

yikes. That would totally freak me out.

 

[raebates]

I just got off the phone with my brother. (Our mom's the one who originally called me.) The guy who was there fixing his door while I talked to him had just come from the house about a block south that had been hit at 10:30 this morning. At that home, the woman was upstairs with her children. The doorbell rang, but she was busy. She heard 3 loud bangs, ran to the landing, and saw people in her house. When she screamed they ran.Most of the robberies they've taken just the TV. He said that the silver lining is that they've been meaning to strip and refinish that door. Now they'll just replace it. (The repairman was doing repairs just to get them through until the new door comes in.)

 

[tlag1986]

I am glad everyone is safe. Crime seams to be up in our rural area as well. We have shut all the barn doors, and put a lock on the gravity flow gas tank.

 

[janetupnorth]

Glad they were all safe!Maybe they can get a DNA sample off that earring. ...or then maybe I watch too much CSI!

 

[raebates]

I told him that if they can't use it as evidence, maybe he can pawn it. He said it's really big. Then again, it's probably either fake or stolen.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Glad they were all safe!

Maybe they can get a DNA sample off that earring. ...or then maybe I watch too much CSI!

For a murder case, maybe, or even grand larceny. For a common burglary? You watch too much CSI.

 

[janetupnorth]

For a murder case, maybe, or even grand larceny. For a common burglary? You watch too much CSI.

Yeah, a TV isn't worth the lab fees.

 

[esavvymom]

They were just showing on the news in my area about a neighborhood (close to where we used to live) in which 3 masked gunmen are waiting for people outside their homes. The people come home and get out of their cars in their driveway- only to be held up at gunpoint for their goods....cell phones, car/house keys, wallets, GPS, etc. They have the people lying on the ground. As the crooks take off in their car, they shoot back at the people (to keep them from getting a look at their car probably).THAT'S scary. I guess we have to NOT take things for granted. With the home invasions, my DH and I have talked about how you can reinforce the doors- it would be too easy to kick in. Storm doors hopefully will slow them down. And take not of any strange cars in your street (in the news, they said they were waiting in their car when the one couple drove up). And don't leave your garage door in your cars!!

 

[JAE]

"And don't leave your garage door in your cars!!" My garage door doesn't fit in my car!!!!

 

[candiejayne]

yikes! makes me wanna bring our guard dog inside! also makes me rethink leaving my laptop sit in my chair next to the window. eekkk!

my BF is sooo going to burglar proof the house tomorrow! I don't care if he thinks I'm crazy or not! We do have ADT stickers on our doors and windows though to make it look like we have a system, and an ADT truck is parked in the driveway periodically, but it's only cause his brother is a technician.

 

[Kodeysmom]

Here in my area in southeastern TN there have been a rash of burglaries as well and they have only been taking TV's nothing else. That is strange.

 

[raebates]

Not really. TVs are easy to resell.I told my brother that this is one of the advantages of having nothing of any real value to anyone else. LOL!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Wait'll these guys show up and steal your hot tub.

 

[janetupnorth]

Wait'll these guys show up and steal your hot tub.

Rae's hot tub - now that will be a sight!

 

[c00p]

I have friends that live in Indianapolis and they are here visiting right now. I sure hope that everything will be ok for them when they get home. And I'm glad that your brother's 4-legged baby was ok......that would have been horrible if something had happend to her.

 

[pamperedlinda]

Rae's hot tub - now that will be a sight!

well, it is the Only One of its Kind!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

They'd set it up behind Mr. Weenie along with an old camper trailer and turn it into a resort.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I was reading this thread for the seriousness of it.....but of course, that had to take a turn.

Imagining someone taking Rae's hot tub is hilarious! I doubt that anyone would take it, it would be too easy to trace.

A while back, there were several robberies in this area, where the thieves were walking in during the day and taking what they liked. MANY around here don't lock their doors, which made it easy for the thieves - they didn't have to break, only enter!

 

[Yakmama]

My brother lives in a house with 3 other roommates and they live in a really nice neighborhood. EVERY SINGLE ONE of their Christmas packages were stolen off their front porch. They were all expecting multiple packages (and they all work during the day). The UPS/FedEx/Post office people left the packages on the front porch and they were all stolen over the course of a week.
Another girl I know had just gotten a new snowblower for Christmas and had it sitting in her garage. While she was home alone with the baby, someone broke into the garage and stole it. It's pretty creepy to think that someone walked into her house while she was there!
These criminals are getting gutsy with the economy the way it is. It sickens me that they think they are entitled to take stuff that belongs to other people. So sad...

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Newsflash - the economy has nothing to do with how gutsy the burglars are. They have always been this gutsy - you've just not paid attention before.One thing that you might be able to link to the economy is that counterfeiting is on the rise. With color copiers being so readily available, it's just too tempting for some. I just don't know where they're getting the paper that passes for real paper. I know I will never accept a $50 or $100 bill from anyone other than a bank teller.

 

[Yakmama]

Newsflash - the economy has nothing to do with how gutsy the burglars are. They have always been this gutsy - you've just not paid attention before.

One thing that you might be able to link to the economy is that counterfeiting is on the rise. With color copiers being so readily available, it's just too tempting for some. I just don't know where they're getting the paper that passes for real paper. I know I will never accept a $50 or $100 bill from anyone other than a bank teller.

If it's not the economy- then why the sudden increase in burglaries?

 

[etteluap70PC]

The robbery trend arround here is thieves pulling into attached garages. Either the Garage door is left open or another door is. The thieves pull in close the door and no one can even see what is going on.

A ballsy one that happend was a family had a car battery stolen. It was returned a few days later with a note saying sorry and it had free movie tickets attached. The family decicded to be thankful and used the tickets.... when they got home their house was cleaned out.

Some people............

 

[christyh]

I hope they catch the people. Its a horrible feeling knowing someone has been in your space and gone through your things. My business was broken into the first of this year and they stole alot of things. And its going on a year and still we haven't heard anything from the police. They even got fingerprints but that wouldn't help if they weren't on file. we did have a person call and say that they bought one of the things that was stolen. We told the police and they wouldn't even check it out. I hope the police there are better than here

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

If it's not the economy- then why the sudden increase in burglaries?

You weren't reading. The comment was that burglars are more gutsy because of the economy and that isn't true. Burglaries have been going on in broad daylight for decades, and the audacity of them is nothing new. The battery and movie ticket trick is not a new one. Burglars scour the obits and clean out houses while the loved one is in state or while the family is at the funeral. Burglars dressed as repairmen or movers have been known to clean out entire houses, in broad daylight, with no one raising any suspicion. They watch their targets, the follow patterns, they know what time your automatic timers turn lights on and off, they know about your life than you do, and they take advantage of that knowledge.

I would also be skeptical of a news reporter claiming burglaries are up"...because of the economy." I'd be more inclined to believe reports of burglaries are up because reporters are looking for something to get on the air with.