Someone Broke into my Shed!!!!

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Owen

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Someone broke into my shed!

The hasp for the padlock was twisted off of the door.

Funny thing is, I can't figure what they took. There is at least 10k rounds of ammo, a bunch of reloading stuff, an air compressor, a bike, a kayak, fenders for a 74 Spitfire, tools, a lawnmower, etc.

As far as I can tell, nothing is missing.

But darn am I peeved, and worried. If they realized what they were looking at, they must be thinking "What's in the house?"

Owen

ooops, they took my bicycle
 
Sounds like Kids to me my friend.
They had no use for all the other stuff. But a bike..............

You might want to invest in some sort of lockbox for the ammo and reloading supplies. Something they can't walk off with. I would seriously expect another breakin as soon as they make a plan for the things they left.
 
They were probably thinking that they need a truck for the next visit.

Keep alert for the next little while (perhaps move the stuff into the house while you set up a covert camera covering the door... ).

Greg
 
Moderator Note

Hey guys,

We still don't discuss specific illegal activities on THR. Please don't do it.

pax

Fire, water, and government know nothing of mercy. -- Albanian proverb
 
Get one of the Jobmaster-type lock boxes (the big metal boxes construction sites have for tools and stuff) to secure the important stuff in the shed (including any tools capable of cutting into the box or a safe), they run about $300 at United Rentals for a 60" long one (Home Depot and Lowes normally only stock the 48" long ones, for more money) and can take craploads of abuse before giving up the goodies.

Kharn
 
Time for motion detectors, lights & X-10 VidCams connected to the VCR so you can "tape the action".

Busted a couple of neighborhood 'punky boys' with those. Amazing how purple the dad's face gets when he views the tape of his fine upstanding sonny destroying mailboxes, etc.
 
Maybe a webcam, and a regular video camera. You could watch from work. A booby trap would get you sued, like the burglers who break into homes and sue when they get injured.
 
Agree w/ bogie, reinforce the door & lock & make that shed less attractive or break-in....maybe add a dog to the back yard too :)
 
FOX also makes their pepper spray in "grenade" form. Insead of there being a button you press, and release, to spray the contents, the top of the "grenade" canister locks in the open position when pressed.

2 oz., of 5.3 million SHU OC makes for a happy day. :D
 
I'd get a pinhole camera (can be found for less than $20-$30 with shipping on ebay just search for pinhole and camera) and hook it up to a vcr in the shed (if you have power in there, if not just run an extension cord temporarily), you don't need a tv, just the vcr... Set up an 8 hr tape, and record the action....

These little things are neat!! :)
 
Remember, if you have the camera you will need light.

Rig the shed door with a button that turns on a light when the door is opened (like a refrigerator light).

If you're really industrious you can rig the camera to start recording using the same method. That way you can leave it unattended for a few days if necessary.
 
From the posts here, there are three options:
1. Hurt them (Booby traps)
2. Get them arrested later
3. Keep them out.

1. The lawsuit will be more than the cost of what they could steal - IF you don't go to jail.
2. What good does this do if they have destroyed or dumped your stuff and have no money to give you to replace it?
3. Here you go. Why spend money on cameras & VCR's, when less money could provide an alarm system for your house AND shed?

My vote - alarm the place!
 
Thinking about it, I am leaning towards the x-10 camera thing.

How hard are they to set up?

owen
 
If you're more interested in catching them than scaring 'em off, remember that video cameras can detect frequencies of light that human eyes cannot. An infared spot might be a nice thing to rig with your pinhole.

I'd probably go the other way, though. Enough halogen flood lights tend to make people think twice.
 
If they was kids after your bicycle, they might not even have taken notice of your other items. Just looked like garage junk to them, maybe. Just how obviously visible was the ammo? Go look again and think like a scared kid after a bike and decide.

Maybe expensive cameras aren't the answer. Maybe just a couple dummy cameras placed where they can see them and not get to them to rip them down would be enough to scare em off.

Woof Woof!
 
Similar thing happened to me. I bought a metal security door at Home depot, and welding some bars over the window. A security door with a deadbolt beats a hasp any day.
 
the X-10 stuff is farily easy to set up, it sends the commands over your existing house wiring, althoug most of the motion detectors are wireless.

A few places (websites) to visit [in order of price]:

www.x10.com

www.smarthome.com

www.x10pro.com

Some Radio Shack stores have a few x-10 products.
 
I kinda like (and agree with) the keep them out next time approach except that part of me would want them caught because it is already to late to keep them out (they already took something).

The X10 cameras are very low quality, the reception and image is FAR less than the "example" pictures they show you on the ads (notice they never say that those pics were taken with the X10 camera). Do a search around the net on X-10 reviews or something like that... I found that many people were very disappointed with what they got... They may be ok, but their deliberately misleading advertisements annoy me enough not to try them.

About the light thing, these B/W IR cameras are awesome!! Much better than I expected... I just got one of these:

PIC Motion Cam, w/Audio & Infrared $139.95 Item #2513 (scroll a little more than 1/2 way down). It is pretty neat and because it emits it's own IR light, it can see in total darkness!! This one I got also has a motion sensor that activates your home VCR to record only when there is motion (only down side is that there is lag time between motion and recording, but only a few seconds). It is a bit more, but totally automatic, nice picture, useful at night, and did not require any additional costs. (got it for a neighbor problem)
 
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