Thieves

[TJJEEPER]

Gawd I hate thieves...

I was out and about yesterday with another retired friend. We were headed to meet his wife for lunch when my neighbor called and asked where I was. She then told me someone had kicked in my front door. The Sheriff was already there. The break-in happened around 11:00 AM.

They took the Big Screen in the Living Room, all the jewelry in the house, my wife's laptop, all the "change cups" us guys keep here and there (probably close to $100's worth). and a bunch of little stuff including our two suitcases to haul it all out.

Cops figured something spooked them due to what they didn't take that was either left behind or out in the open... My DSLR camera was in it's case in the hall, pocket knives and GPS on the desk (but they did take my Emerson!).

The master bedroom was totally ransacked. Drawers pulled out and emptied, closet shelves emptied BUT they didn't take that TV which was the newest in the house.

The neighbor on the other side saw them leave, in his words "screech out of the driveway" and thought it was suspicious. He got a description but no plate. S10 type blazer with 3 Hispanics males. He's the one who called the Sheriff when he saw my door busted open (not easily visible due to the setback).

So the front door is screwed shut and unusable until my finish carpenter guy can replace it next week and everyone is pretty much traumatized. Our little dog is REALLY having a rough time. I guess the door blasting open and all the strangers in and out of the house over a few hours was a bit much. She was still throwing up bile yesterday evening. Sticking close to me this morning

Getting door(s) replaced with the harder to kick in type but anyone could still break a window.

Worst day of my life in quite some time. Complacency will get you every time!

 

[Blu-meanie]

Check E-Bay, local garage sales, and auctions (if you have one close) for you stuff. I've been fortunate but I worked with guys that had break-ins and it really screws up your life for a while. Good luck.

 

[Jim W]

Sorry for your loss and troubles especially right before Thanksgiving. At least no one was hurt and your dog was not taken also.

Jim

 

[TFucili]

Sorry to see this. We just had someone break into our box trailer at work, and steal the generator out of its compartment. Pond-scum pieces of trash, meth-heads, crack-heads are everywhere.

 

[jgillott]

So sorry to hear about your robbery. Something very similar happened to my neighbor recently. Troopers told us that is happening very often lately with people looking for quick cash or items to sell for drugs.

I was never a fan of security systems but we purchased one after my neighbor's issue. Not so much that I think it will keep people out, but at least it will notify us if something is happening.

Best of luck as you work through this.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Sorry to hear of your loss. Probably someone who knew where you were. Have you had any projects done around your place lately? Hope they are caught and locked up. bg

 

[JR]

Our place also got cleaned out 7-8 years ago. I was working out of town and we were supposed to get blasted with a big snow storm and my wife didn't want to not be able to get down the drive the next morning so she took the kids and stayed with the in-laws. The thieves came in the night, kicked the door open and helped themselves. Same with the garage. Due to the remoteness of our home nobody saw the wide open door until 5pm the next day when she got home. She had to shovel 2 feet of snow off of our new hard wood floors from where it drifted into the house. Talk about making you sick. I never wanted to hurt someone so bad. Worthless P.O.S.'s.

I agree with the home security system. Once it goes off all but the dumbest asshats will realize the police are about to be notified and won't hang out for long. Helped with the homeowners insurance a little too.

 

[Wayne M.]

Yes complacency and comfort will get you every time. I have to remember that. I hope there is some recourse and recovery for you guys! We live in an area where the opiate addiction is very bad, the signs are everywhere but it's generally considered a good area in the big picture. Since I had been doing shift work when we set this house up, it is fully alarmed and has a commercial grade camera system. Some people here think were crazy, but if/ when something happens, it will be documented.
When I did my spyntec conversion, all the old iron was in my driveway and the scrapers grabbed it before I could take care of it. I got a good visual on the perps and the white van, but no plate. Oh well but at least I knew what/ how/ when it happened.

 

[ranger 393]

Gawd I hate thieves...

I was out and about yesterday with another retired friend. We were headed to meet his wife for lunch when my neighbor called and asked where I was. She then told me someone had kicked in my front door. The Sheriff was already there. The break-in happened around 11:00 AM.

They took the Big Screen in the Living Room, all the jewelry in the house, my wife's laptop, all the "change cups" us guys keep here and there (probably close to $100's worth). and a bunch of little stuff including our two suitcases to haul it all out.

Cops figured something spooked them due to what they didn't take that was either left behind or out in the open... My DSLR camera was in it's case in the hall, pocket knives and GPS on the desk (but they did take my Emerson!).

The master bedroom was totally ransacked. Drawers pulled out and emptied, closet shelves emptied BUT they didn't take that TV which was the newest in the house.

The neighbor on the other side saw them leave, in his words "screech out of the driveway" and thought it was suspicious. He got a description but no plate. S10 type blazer with 3 Hispanics males. He's the one who called the Sheriff when he saw my door busted open (not easily visible due to the setback).

So the front door is screwed shut and unusable until my finish carpenter guy can replace it next week and everyone is pretty much traumatized. Our little dog is REALLY having a rough time. I guess the door blasting open and all the strangers in and out of the house over a few hours was a bit much. She was still throwing up bile yesterday evening. Sticking close to me this morning

Getting door(s) replaced with the harder to kick in type but anyone could still break a window.

Worst day of my life in quite some time. Complacency will get you every time!

Check your local pawn shops, go by and give them info on what to be on the look for. A reputable pawn shop will run everything with serial numbers through the local police dept,if something comes up they will let them know. Sad thing is most ( not all ) home break ins is someone that knows you or has been there before, you can usually tell by what they took and where it was at, " they know what they are looking for and where it was located at".

 

[Wayne M.]

Excellent point. Cable guy or someone comes in and I'm on his tail the whole time. Never gets a chance to sniff around. If he puts up with me he gets a good tip.

 

[MLee]

sorry to hear of your invasion.
Seems as though my neighbor hood has turned into a hot spot for thieves. Place down the street got hit couple nits ago, his alarm went off @ 3:21 am he was in Nebraska, a block away at about the same time AM, few days later, a guy was caught in a back yard by the police, an other incident a pick up was ransacked and tools taken out of the bed. The authorities are letting out prisoners because the jail's are over crowded. So now the general public is having to help finance there habits of thievery, and the police are strapped because of lack of evidence, and information.
Robberies are on the rise at businesses, same guy hit three Subway's same day this past week. Banks. credit unions, you name it. A friend got hit when they were camping, in the middle of the day. Neighbors cameras caught photos of the guy coming and leaving, but still at large. You talk about being PARANOID, this they are. So were all are on high alert, anything suspicious gets checked out.

 

[TJJEEPER]

Thanks for the kind thoughts guys. After a weekend of clean-up and inventory they took more than we thought. Small stuff mostly but stuff all the same. Two things we can't replace are my Dad's Gold Pocket Watch and My Wife's mother's Diamond Watch. Of course the complacency included not checking our insurance for limits. The BIG hurt was the 5 year old 55" TV. We paid over $3000 for it and it can be replaced for around $800 now so that's what we get. The Jewelry limit is $2500 so we're going to come up short there too.

First you get robbed by the scumbags then by the suits!

I can't recommend enough that you inventory the important stuff you have and take lots of pictures. It helps when the real work starts.