House and Cars Broken Into

[TheDan]

Man this is screwed up! Sorry you got hit again.

The people breaking in the 2nd time might not even be the same as the first, but I bet they know them. They were probably bragging about what they stole the first time and whoever they were talking to decided it was their turn.

 

[Shorts]

Subsea, that really is terrible man. I'm sorry to hear. I'd be livid. But you're description of how you feel is exactly spot on. It shouldn't be this way and I hope that the culprits are caught.

The sneakiness and relocking the door sounds like teens. Though I'm surprised about firearms, that really cranks up the charges. But they don't have fully formed brains either.

Sounds like the offer for the side job install is one you should jump on. Sorry to hear about all your troubles, but at least the second time you weren't there. Not sure I'd be able to sleep if someone broke into the house with me sleeping twice in a row.

Of course kicking in the door this time seems odd since they didn't need to do that last time. Did you happen to move a hidden key or change the locks since the first time? Or did they just know that you were out of town so they didn't care about the noise?

Also can't wait to see pics of the safe to see what they did to it.

They weren't he original burglars they didn't have keys, hence the kicked in door. Probably friends/acquaintances of the originals that heard them bragging.

These days of social media, word gets around very fast within teen groups (basically an online invitation goes out - what/where/when). It's not just inner school cliques anymore, word (about anything) gets put out and now you've got a multi-jurisdiction ring of possibilities. It happens with house parties that turn into drug/alcohol fueled disturbances, shootings, property damage, arrests, etc involving hundreds of individuals. They have the same MO. Kid's parents out of town, he invites 15 friends over, someone posts the address/date on facebook and that invitation multiplies exponentially. In 15min the neighborhood explodes from the mob influx. Same idea with info about scores.

Subsea, I'd be careful about who you let in to install your security system, especially small local if you do not know them. Who's to say they aren't bad apples either under the guise of security. Sure, they install your system, but they also see your layout, your property and any large items that you can't put away. In this day and age, the more you're a gray man and the less you talk about the details of your life, the better you'll be. CYA.

 

[35Remington]

Hey Guys,

I'm sorry that I haven't been back to update, so here we go....

I really can't have a dog right now...I work overseas, and last year I was out of the country about 320 days.

I called the constable and he took the report and got all the serial numbers, didn't seem interested in finding them much....I was pretty unimpressed with that dude. I left and went to Dallas to do some stuff with a small gun company that I'm involved with. Spent the night there and was on my way to New Braunfels to do some other stuff and a neighbor called. This guy does security systems commercially, and said he'd get his guys to do a side job for me. Came over and was looking around and found the back door kicked in, blew out the door frame. Seems the perps came back the next night and had all the time they wanted. He called 911 and HCSO came over....told them that there were weapons in the house and the SO called for backup and they cleared the house. They told my neighbor that they couldn't do anything till I got there...which ended up being about 6 hours later after dealing with Austin rush hour traffic and the parking lot that was I10 undergoing construction.

Soooo....back door was kicked in, blew out the frame. They cleaned out the liquor cabinet, trashed my bedroom, stole a Ruger LCR in .22lr (last 4 of SN - 3952) stole all my watches, my suitcases....absolutely trashed the house. Broke one of my deck chairs.....it's a mess. I had Harris County SO here for a few hours last night and this morning, got 5-6 good prints off of some glass and some smooth surfaces. The crooks worked like hell to get into my safe. The locksmith was just here and he's confident that they did not get into it, but he won't be able to open it till Monday. Already talked to the guys at Browning safes and they are going to replace it if my insurance does not. I'll try and get some pics posted in a bit, but they are on my phone right now.

Today has been dealing with insurance, building lists of what is missing, had the locksmith over and he's coming back on Monday. Getting a new back door and frame tomorrow hopefully.

I'll do my best to monitor this thread and reply as I can, but as you can imagine, I'm keeping pretty busy at the moment.

Thanks for all y'all's thoughts and prayers....no one got hurt, stuff can mostly be replaced, but the peace of mind of being safe in one fracking spot on this rock....damnit, that's what I enjoyed about having a home.

You're saying you got robbed and then you did not absolutely put all of your shit on LOCK DOWN? That was a foolish move. Watches, LCR, even your damn toothbrush if it was a Sonicare—they should've all been in the safe, man.

I have been burgled before so I can empathize with you, but dear lord man you need to up your security.

 

[NavyVet1959]

If you spend that much time away from home, it sounds like you need a good ol' fashioned Claymore...

Of course, actual Claymores are a bit expensive, but a good alternative would be something along the line of the 12-gauge perimeter alarm.

There's a few different designs out there and they are easy to build yourself. You can load the 12-gauge shells with whatever you want. They can be blanks or even have pellets in them. If you do not have a barrel encasing the 12-gauge shell, the pellets won't go out the front and are not particularly damaging since the powder just ruptures the plastic of the shell and all the force goes out the side instead of propelling the pellets forward. For entry doors and windows, I'm particularly fond of reloading the 12-gauge shells with cayenne powder. Combining this with siren and a monitored security system would be best since you only get one shot out of each unit.

 

[TheDan]

...12-gauge perimeter alarm...
I'm particularly fond of reloading the 12-gauge shells with cayenne powder.

I like the idea, but I wonder what the legality of that would be. I'd also be concerned about disabling the dog with the pepper. A dye pack might be more useful. "Mark" the intruders so that they can be identified more easily.

If you want it just as a noise maker, party poppers are cheap.

 

[99taws6]

They are quite illegal


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mreed911]

They are quite illegal

That's agruable. I assume you're referring to PC 9.44? Mounted correctly, with a blank, at a distance, you could probably defend your use. The key is - defend - as you'd very likely be prosecuted in the right circumstance.

 

[99taws6]

That's agruable. I assume you're referring to PC 9.44? Mounted correctly, with a blank, at a distance, you could probably defend your use. The key is - defend - as you'd very likely be prosecuted in the right circumstance.

I misread. As blanks you would be ok.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mreed911]

I misread. As blanks you would be ok.

Might. You were more right that you know. Even a blank can cause serious bodily injury.

Very iffy as to the use of these. Iffy enough I'll stick with ADT and wireless motion detectors.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Major suckage!!

Sure sorry to hear this.

 

[NavyVet1959]

Having tried to fire a 12-gauge shell in one of the plastic flare guns in my younger days, I can attest to the non-lethality of the round in a plastic barrel (or no barrel). When I examined the parts afterwards, I don't think any of the pellets went out the end nor did any go into my hand. It definitely stung, but no skin was broken. Now, if you chose to go with a design that had a steel barrel (e.g. 3/4" sched-40 steel pipe), you should be prepared for accusations of lethality and perhaps be concerned about the legal implications of it. As a first layer of defense, I would go with the cayenne pepper. It's going to make noise and provide a noxious environment of atomized burnt cayenne pepper that they will be forced to traverse to get to the rest of the house. That should be a good deterrent. If they choose to ignore that warning, what you might use for your second layer of defense is up to you and your legal conscious. One would think that with a cloud of burnt cayenne pepper plus an alarm blaring, the crooks would be deterred. If they are not, you are facing someone that is definitely meaning you harm and as such more offensive measures are most likely called for.

Bars are good for windows, but they tend to be noticeable and often detract from the look of the house. If your windows are made up of a gridwork of multiple panes, you can design bars that are spaced exactly the same as the gridwork and are hidden.

If you have any sort of window / glass area within a couple of feet of your dead bolt, you should have a dual keyed dead bolt (i.e. needs a key to unlock from the outside AND the inside). Otherwise, they just break the window and reach in and turn the lever on the lock.

Having a manual bar locking mechanism that you can put across the door also helps. Something as simple as a heavy duty eye screw / bolt on each side of the door frame screwed into studs and a 1/2" square solid steel rod slid between them will make a big difference even in kick-in burglary entries.

 

[F350-6]

They weren't he original burglars they didn't have keys, hence the kicked in door. Probably friends/acquaintances of the originals that heard them bragging.

These days of social media, word gets around very fast within teen groups (basically an online invitation goes out - what/where/when). It's not just inner school cliques anymore, word (about anything) gets put out and now you've got a multi-jurisdiction ring of possibilities. It happens with house parties that turn into drug/alcohol fueled disturbances, shootings, property damage, arrests, etc involving hundreds of individuals. They have the same MO. Kid's parents out of town, he invites 15 friends over, someone posts the address/date on facebook and that invitation multiplies exponentially. In 15min the neighborhood explodes from the mob influx. Same idea with info about scores.

Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't that leave a "paper trail" so to speak where investigators could track down who bragged and who read the brags?

 

[karlac]

Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't that leave a "paper trail" so to speak where investigators could track down who bragged and who read the brags?

Yep.
That stupidity is rampant these days occasionally has its upside...

 

[F350-6]

Yep.
That stupidity is rampant these days occasionally has its upside...

Wow. I never would have guessed. I guess this is what happens when we stop teaching accountability and just start giving trophy's to everyone who participates.

Consequences for one's own actions (good or bad) sounds like a lesson these youngsters need to learn.

 

[Shorts]

Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't that leave a "paper trail" so to speak where investigators could track down who bragged and who read the brags?

It does.
The trick is finding that first lead. Once that is found, it is just a matter of time. Between the general public, community pages, and law enforcement resources, the chatter will eventually bring the culprits into the light. Sometimes a matter of days, sometimes a week or two. Depends on the size of the area I guess, but it can be done.

 

[andre3k]

Set up an account on leads online. They have a site where people can inventory their property and upload it to an online account with pictures and serial numbers. A lot of pawn shops have a similar account with leadsonline that allows investigators to search for stolen property. My old partner is now a robbery investigator and was telling me about this system last week. He has recovered a lot of stolen goods from pawn shops for his complainants by using leadsonline.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[Mreed911]

Set up an account on leads online. They have a site where people can inventory their property and upload it to an online account with pictures and serial numbers. A lot of pawn shops have a similar account with leadsonline that allows investigators to search for stolen property. My old partner is now a robbery investigator and was telling me about this system last week. He has recovered a lot of stolen goods from pawn shops for his complainants by using leadsonline.

Aren't law enforcement officials still entering serial numbers for larger items (and firearms) in TCIC/NCIC?

 

[andre3k]

Aren't law enforcement officials still entering serial numbers for larger items (and firearms) in TCIC/NCIC?

Yeah they still go into tcic/ncic as well. But the good thing about leads online is that when you set up you account you can enter in all of your serial numbers along with photos before they are stolen. A lot of pawnshops also have leads online accounts and enter in items. It seems like an effective tool.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[Mreed911]

Yeah they still go into tcic/ncic as well. But the good thing about leads online is that when you set up you account you can enter in all of your serial numbers along with photos before they are stolen. A lot of pawnshops also have leads online accounts and enter in items. It seems like an effective tool.

I don't know that I'd trust their security (online) without a lot of verification. Placing a list of my valuables somewhere seems like an invitation to thieves to break into that database to get a menu of places to burgle.

 

[NavyVet1959]

I don't know that I'd trust their security (online) without a lot of verification. Placing a list of my valuables somewhere seems like an invitation to thieves to break into that database to get a menu of places to burgle.

A valid concern... If you did not have to put your name and address on the account, it could be a bit more secure, but I suspect that for some of the items, an address could be traced back through other databases (e.g. cars).