A big surprise awaited our family last week. It was not a good one. I had visited my Mom on Wednesday afternoon and came home after dark. Thursday, we spent the morning inside working on lessons and general things. I walked outside to the mailbox and noticed the garage door ajar. When I went to investigate, it had been forcibly entered and we had been robbed!!! The first assumption was it had occurred while I was visiting mom.
I called Vaughn, then the sheriff. The Deputy arrived, Vaughn came home and we filed the report. The first thing I learned, make sure you have serial numbers for all your stuff. Irregardless if you have them engraved with your name, the likely hood of recovering stolen items will only happen with a serial number.
One of our neighbors has surveillance cameras around his house, when he arrived home, Vaughn approached him about checking if his camera's caught anything. The neighbor checked his stuff. He had been burglarized too along with about 5 more neighbors.
Here is the clincher. We were all at home. They came in the middle of the night right before the thunderstorm, cut locks, pried open doors and helped themselves to a lot of items from the 7 year old's Christmas dirt bike, to generators, to drills. They put the stuff in the driveway and went to the next shed/outbuilding. They passed cars and checked for something of value. When they were done, the lookout/get away car drove around and picked up their loot.
I do not write this for sympathy. In these tough economic times I am surprised this is the first time it has happened to us. If there is a next time, the perpetrator will have a surprise he will not soon forget. However, I am disappointed to learn that two other neighborhoods nearby has had similar situations occur in the last several months. I was not informed via the news or public announcements. The loss of property on a minor level is not newsworthy unless you are the victim. The violation of personal space in my opinion is worthy of prevention, hence this blog entry.
So, what have I learned? Deadbolts will hinder and delay but not necessarily stop. They can only finger print hard surfaces that are clean. The nail gun they left by the door, was to rough to get anything. CSI is a Hollywood deception. Take pictures of your items and write down serial numbers and keep in a safe place. Be watchful, but not paranoid. We may be robbed again, but I don't think anytime soon. We are all on heightened awareness right now, it is when the guard is down that something could happen. You may live in a neighborhood nearby, be on your guard. They targeted sheds and out buildings thought to house tools and other valuables. They wore hoodies to avoid any detection by camera. They came during a storm to disrupt the camera surveillance and mask noise.
Hopefully this blog will prevent your loss of property and peace of mind. If it causes the perpetrators to be hindered, I have done what I set out to accomplish.
Stay safe....
