Two next door neighbor's home broken in

[yongxingfreesty]

my two next door neighbors got their homes broken in wednesday and sunday.

this is the story of the first guy with home broken in on wednesday.
-he drives to academy to pick up some stuff
-alarm company notifies him that motion sensor detected movement in his house.
-he over thinks it and thought it was the ceiling fan blowing the newspaper everywhere and tells them to tell police not to worry about it.
-he comes home and finds stuff ransacked and stuff missing.
-calls the police and tells the other next door neighbor what just happened. warned her to be careful because she lives home alone.


on sunday, my other neighbors house got broken into and they searched everything in the house. stole some jewelry and home belongings. she is getting an alarm system installed soon. she just recently moved in maybe 6-7months ago and is always home.

my question for all is..... How in the hell do these scums scope out a house? i never see unknown cars parked on my street or even down the street. the only tall building is a 3 story bank in front of my house. the 2nd and 3rd floor of the bank is for staffers only. my parents are really paranoid about home invasions and break ins so we have installed a security system after the second break in 5-6 years ago. im also relieved that at least one of my parents or sister is home most of the time. mom and sister operates the 38spl smith and wesson and dad is proficient with all of my weapons.

how do these thieves have perfect timing to rob a house? im glad winter break is coming soon, i need to stay home with the parents more often.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

take a look at neighbors and their friends

 

[yongxingfreesty]

all my neighbors are 40-50yrs old, working or retired. and by the way, both homes were entered from the backdoor/backyard.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

someone got a kid or grandkid? nephew?b/f or g/f of one of the above?

 

[yongxingfreesty]

here is a quick drawing i did of surrounding houses.

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

just preliminary judgement, and im no expert, but it seems like whoever it is is hitting houses on the perimeter. do you have an alarm system?
it could be as easy as simply driving by to scope out. they dont need to stake it out for days. simply see the house is dark, break in

 

[Corporal K]

It's someone who lives nearby - maybe a street or two over, but close. they've probably scoped your house too and didn't ID it as an easy target for whatever reason.

 

[Corporal K]

The kid who likes to sneak into your yard - it could be some of his buddies. No honor among thieves, so if they saw things in his own house they wanted, they may have come back when they knew the family would be gone.

Plus they could scope the neighborhood while visiting him.

 

[IncredibleGord]

I was wondering the same thing as the OP. I was on the way to starbucks with my uncle and his assistant, and we were robbed about 10 seconds after we left the driveway. We left the SL500 in the garage, and took the G class to get coffee. Somebody must have seen us go, and broke a huge window pane to my uncle's 2 million dollar house. Lucky for us, my uncle's friend Lenny was in the house, and scared the robber off. My uncle has been broken into twice in the 4 years he lived there. He bought a .38, went to the range, and put up a shot up target outside. He also keeps a 12 gauge in his closet. We were talking about what we would have done if we were there, and my Uncle's assistant was saying he would have grabbed the shotgun, concluding that Lenny didn't even know we had one....

 

[BADUNAME37]

I think the kid that goes into/through your yard is a possible culprit.

I wonder why he has to go through your yard.

 

[Eyesac]

Good question, we had our house broken into about 6mo ago. No one else on our street was burgled, so it makes me wonder why us....? Makes you a bit nervous for a couple months.

 

[gregormeister]

Saw your drawing...surprising to say the least.
It is all about routine, habit and timing.

The culprits know when you leave, when you return and generally what you do with your time. If you work full time then they know your hours. If you go to your moms to eat every sunday a 3 pm for aprx. 2 hours then they know that.

If you cant do anything about your work schedule or whhen your gone invest in an alarm company and darn good door locks.

 

[BADUNAME37]

Too bad you can't set it up with a friend who is hidden to come to your house, make it look like you are leaving in your car, but you really STAY HOME with your telephone and sit quietly in a closet waiting for the so...... (I mean nice guys). The "friend" would have to look a lot like you for this to work (either that, or have the friend wait at your house with the phone). Call 911 and the guy(s) are caught red-handed.

 

[BullsEye10x]

Sorry to hear about this my friend! Lock your stuff up tight and keep an eye out. Maybe even consider taking some of your valuables to a secure/trusted place for safekeeping. Find or make up some official-looking signs that say "video surveillance in progress", or something like that, and stick them up on your doors and windows. It's a great deterrent!

Unfortunately, this will probably continue until the thieves are caught, scared off, or have robbed the area blind. Make sure to report ALL suspicious activity to the police and get in the habit of jotting down descriptions and license plate numbers to people and/or vehicles that you don't recognize.

I had a similar problem in my old neighborhood, where some "refugees" from N.O. were ripping everyone off and just generally polluting the block. They finally got evicted, so that night they went around trying to steal trucks/SUV's to put all their (our) crap in and fled the state. My truck was one of many that got broken into, but the anti-theft ignition system kept it in the driveway. The scumbags managed to get another guy's SUV and made it to Lafayette before getting stopped/arrested by LSP. The whole bunch of them sat in jail over there while we tried to press charges for all the burglaries, but Harris County didn't want to do anything even though they were caught red-handed with property belonging to several residents :banghead:

If you need help forming a neighborhood poss- err... I mean "watch committee", let me know

Stay safe!

 

[Kenneth Lew]

my question for all is..... How in the hell do these scums scope out a house? i never see unknown cars parked on my street or even down the street. the only tall building is a 3 story bank in front of my house. the 2nd and 3rd floor of the bank is for staffers only.

Are you watching out the windows of your home 24 hours a day or review security cameras throughout the day? I don't think so. You cannot say with absolute certainty. Crooks have all the time in the world to scope out your property. Thieves can drive by neighborhoods pretending to be house hunters, drive with camcorders to scope out potential homes, pretending to exercise down the neighborhood, practically do anything.

Turds have been known to pick vehicles at the mall, workplace, GUNRANGES, anyplace where people like to flaunt money. It is very easy to get someone's home address with the license plate.

Turds also have been know to test out your home/business security systems to detemine the response time of the police (30 minutes plus, low priority) and the owner. There have been times where the thieves intentionally set of the alarm to draw out the homeowner and rob them on the spot or til the alarm company/owner resets the alarm and trips it off again (owner/alarm company/police will usually disregard the second trip as another false alarm).

Too bad you can't set it up with a friend who is hidden to come to your house, make it look like you are leaving in your car, but you really STAY HOME with your telephone and sit quietly in a closet waiting for the so...... (I mean nice guys). The "friend" would have to look a lot like you for this to work (either that, or have the friend wait at your house with the phone). Call 911 and the guy(s) are caught red-handed.

Your friend will be waiting for a long time to catch a potential burglar. His/her quality of life will suck. Trust me on that, it took me a long while to catch one burglar breaking in to my workplace. A lot of sleepless nights in a very large dark place.

Find or make up some official-looking signs that say "video surveillance in progress", or something like that, and stick them up on your doors and windows. It's a great deterrent!

Remember that a lot of business have state of the art video surveillance systems that actually work. Does that do anything to stop the robbers, NOPE. "Video surveillance in progress" aign is as worthless as a Gun-Free Zone sign. I've had security cameras covering outside perimeters before, it was only as good till the turd shot the camera with a pellet gun. Friend of mine has that best state of the art system, guess what the burglars waved at the cameras while they trashed all his machinery for the copper.

Unfortunately, this will probably continue until the thieves are caught, scared off, or have robbed the area blind. Make sure to report ALL suspicious activity to the police and get in the habit of jotting down descriptions and license plate numbers to people and/or vehicles that you don't recognize.

That sounds nice in theory, if the police will actually compile/process the information and follow through. Burglaries are low priority for most police department, heck most of the time they will not even bother to take fingerprints after the crime. That has happened to me twice during 2 burglaries.

My very unqualified opinon, is that the best way to catch a criminal with neighbors (ie Hoe Horn) or yourself rather than to rely on the police/alarm company to help (all they can do is to respond after the fact). If you are determined to stay at home for months at a time waiting for a burglar. What will you do if you actually encounter one? Many people pound their chest on the internet about doing this and that. When the turd hits the fan, they usually freak out and turd in their pants. What happens if you caught the burglar in your home, and he/she does not comply with your commands, do you shoot? Can you live with shooting someone in your home and CLEANING UP THE MESS and dealing with the crime scene. What happens if the burglar is a minor, do you still shoot? How would you react when after the police catches the burglar, he gets out on bail and you wait over 1 year for a trial only to find out that they received probation.

During Hurricane Rita, the alarms companies did not even bother calling the police department with tripped alarms because they assumed that the hurricane tripped the sensors.

 

[CSestp]

Not that I'm proud, but parts of my family are career criminals. The most common way a home is "scoped". Is that someone somewhat knows the person that gets robbed enough that they will make enough money if that home gets robbed. After this is established (and yes normally they have been inside the persons house) they go to a group and get paid a finders fee after the job is done. That way they have no first hand contact with the robbery.

Now if your block starts getting hit that is a different type of thing going on. I highly doubt its someone living all that close to where it is happening, yes while junkies are stupid junkies they keep trouble at least a half mile away from home. So if you think that this is the case just buy a couple web cams and hid them in your house, build a wrap around fence and get a dog. Even if its a smaller dog people dont like to mess with them.

Also it sounds like junkies because the guy that got hit when he went to the store not when he was at work. In other words they were not in tune with his time table, they just saw a house with no one there.

 

[Jeff White]

Most burglaries are crimes of opportunity. The burglars might have seen your friend leave and decided to do a quick break, grab and run.

We tend to over think these things just like your friend over thought the alarm activation.

Open doors, no one apparently home....all kinds of reasons. The people who do these burglaries aren't exactly the brightest in the world either. I once took a burglary report where there was a bag full of change (only about $30) was taken. I followed the burglar's footprints in the new snow to his back door He saw his neighbor leave, had been in the house, knew where the money was kept, went in through the unlocked front door, took the change then walked home....

 

[BullsEye10x]

The bottom line here is, if a criminal wants what you have bad enough, they will find a way to get it.

The best approach to theft prevention and physical security is to create several "layers" of defenses. You can't just do one or two things (i.e. reinforce doors/windows or get an alarm) and expect your house to magically become impervious to crime. Just like you can't become complacent and believe nothing bad will happen if you are carrying a gun. Wrong mindset. The idea is to make yourself (and your property) a hard target, so the lazy criminals will pass you up for an easier mark.

A good combination of both active and passive deterrents (i.e. dog, alarm/surveillance system, fortified points of entry, interior and perimeter lighting, and situational awareness/observation) all have their place. The effectiveness of each will vary according to the type of threat and experience/motivation of those who intend to commit illegal acts.

 

[1 old 0311]

Have a friend who lives in a very upscale area. 2 a.m. she takes her dog for a 10 minute walk. Comes back and someone broke in through her patio.

 

[Browning]

Alot of burglaries are committed by minors who operate in their own neighborhood because they're comfortable with the territory.

It's either that or they're usually committed by drug addicts who just go by how the house looks (if they look like they have money or not). Once they drive by and they have something that they like and if the layout looks good (bushes in front of windows, trees that provide shade, poor security on doors and windows, houses with sliding glass doors, no dogs or security lights/alarm/security camera etc etc) who then just knock on the door to see if anyone's home.

Statistically it was probably one or the other, if it was kids then they probably live really close by. From the map it seems like you already have some suspicions of who it is, the only thing is until he or they are caught you can't really prove anything one way or the other.

My solution would be just to harden your house a little bit.

• Security Lights.
• Cut back bushes so that your property is easily viewed from the street.
• Advising your neighbors to call the police if they see anybody suspicious.
• A Remote Security Camera (those things act really well as a deterrent).
• Large Breed Dog.
• Security Alarm or at the very least a sign saying that you have one.
• Keep your guns locked up in a safe (if you don't have one you should get one).
• If you don't have a very secure steel core door with several double dead bolt locks and a throw then maybe you should get one.
• Security screen over the door and maybe some bars on the windows.
• Plastic window treatment that makes the windows smash and bullet resistant if you don't like the way bars look on your windows.
• If you have a garage door make sure that it can't be just pulled up (many houses are burglarized through the garage) so that an intruder can gain entry that way.
• If you have a door leading to your garage from inside your home, it needs to be just as sturdy as your front door since intruders can work on it without being seen.

You can't prevent a burglary altogether, but you can make sure that it doesn't look like an inviting target and by throwing things up that will either get them caught later (video cameras) or slow them down quite a bit then they might just end up going to someone elses house instead.

 

[yongxingfreesty]

agree on what everyone has to say. i guess the only thing I can do to deter these guys is maybe a fake surveillance posted in different areas of the house. it might not scare everyone, but hopefully someone will think twice.

 

[2RCO]

Best security system ever is an anti social dog that's also just a hare rabid or a Rhesus monkey on crack (had one loose in my neighborhood when I was a kid escaped from a private zoo those things have huge fangs).

I live in a gated community, have an obnoxious (though not rabid) dog, security system and live on a street that is almost impossible to accidentally wander onto. That being said anywhere can be robbed so I still worry.

Ask the police to do a regular drive by due to a higher instance of breakins.

 

[Kenneth Lew]

agree on what everyone has to say. i guess the only thing I can do to deter these guys is maybe a fake surveillance posted in different areas of the house. it might not scare everyone, but hopefully someone will think twice.

Better put locks on your breaker boxes.

 

[blueballet]

Be very careful and trust no one since someone might be studying your moves.

 

[nurserobbie]

I agree, be aware of new neighbors moving in as well. Unfortunately I trusted my new next door neighbors when they moved in, only to find out a little late that they're criminals. They know I'm aware of their activities. Would you believe I live in a upper scale neighborhood? These "neighbors" have done so many countless crimes against others and to myself and property, that it would be too long of a discussion to write about. I am a single mother. These "people" took my kindnesses for weaknesses and proceeded to trespass and destroy my property, attempted to break into my small garage door by placing a magnet on the wireless alarm contact, have stolen my mail, dug through my garbage and recycle bin the night before trash pick-up, and again, too much more issues to discuss in writing. Unfortunately, I have to stay aware of them most of the time. I have called the police, who made a report, otherwise they do nothing about this problem. The husband told me, "I'm going to make your life a living hell", why?, because they know I know everything about them. They underestimated me, nurses are very aware and analytical!