One of my employees had his doors kicked in three times like that. They're just after a snatch and run, they know they have a minute before it makes a lot of noise.
Glad you're okay.
Glad you're okay.
Done.
We had 4 inch screws for our striker plates, but one of those broke off and the other tore out part of the 2x4 of the house frame itself. This was done again after repairs with even better screws. When buying materials to repair our door jam, I saw these adjustable door jammers that wedge underneath the doorknob and the ground at an angle, using pressure to keep the door from opening. I'm curious how well they work, though, especially against someone kicking in a door. $20 a pop.
They work quite well if you have a good quality door knob and hardware. We experminted with one and it took 7 good hard, hard kicks before the knob came apart and the door opened.
That sucks big time. Shame you didn't have that camera system installed. Be nice to see scum bags off the street, for awhile anyway.
The thief most likely was looking for guns for all the ammo he was hoarding.
I'm a firm believer that coincidences are the exclusion and need to vetted out when weird stuff happens.
Danny, any chance that your being home or not was known to the thief? Park your car in the driveway? Neighbors recall any knockers/ salesmen? Any recent service or repair calls to your house? Check your home phone caller ID for unknown callers during the time away. Anyone else robbed nearby?
Just seems odd that someone would randomly kick in a door and steal without knowing in advance that no one would be home. Maybe that's how it goes these days, but I'd suspect that someone somehow knew that you'd be gone. Thieves avoid contact and go for the simplest/ easiest target to get what they want.
In a way, it's good that you were gone. Way less hassle and mess than killing a home invader.
Computer serial numbers and copy of the police report to the pawn shops yet?
Danny, any chance that your being home or not was known to the thief? Park your car in the driveway? Neighbors recall any knockers/ salesmen? Any recent service or repair calls to your house? Check your home phone caller ID for unknown callers during the time away. Anyone else robbed nearby?
Just seems odd that someone would randomly kick in a door and steal without knowing in advance that no one would be home. Maybe that's how it goes these days, but I'd suspect that someone somehow knew that you'd be gone. Thieves avoid contact and go for the simplest/ easiest target to get what they want.
In a way, it's good that you were gone. Way less hassle and mess than killing a home invader.
Computer serial numbers and copy of the police report to the pawn shops yet?
Our keypad doubles as a siren, which is loud and can be heard maybe in front of my house with the door shut, a couple of houses away maybe if the front door was open. We have an attic vent facing the road and I've thought about a siren mounted behind it, just got to figure a way to get it to work with my alarm (this wasn't an option when we had this alarm installed). After yesterday, I've discussed with my wife disabling the siren that way it may make the intruder feel like he has more time to "browse", which ultimately allows more time for the police to catch him.
We have our alarm set to disable delayed entry, so it starts going off as soon as a zone is disturbed. We're guessing the police probably passed the guy on his way out, they were notified and responded that quickly.
Good to know, thanks! Like I said, they're only $20. Not a huge financial loss if they don't work. We might pick up a few, just for added physical resistance.
No we don't, and that's one of the first things I mentioned to my wife. We'd like to have one for multiple reasons (allowing some sunlight in WAS our first priority), but now it would serve as a speed bump to a smash and grab. Better than nothing.
Our neighbor across the street saw a white van a few hours prior, but my wife and I were both home at the time, and with so much storm repair and construction going on in the neighborhood, a white van driving down the road is the norm. We're wondering if our house was cased. One of the officers thinks that if it was a random strike, they probably rang the doorbell and kicked in the door when nobody answered. He also suggested someone that we know or someone that's been in the house recently, as the items they took are odd in their placement and value. For example, my laptop was on the coffee table, right next to my friend's DSLR camera (worth twice as much as the laptop (since secured)) with a carrying strap. Even with arms full and in a rush, it would have been extremely easy to pick it up on the way out. There's no way they didn't see it. Also on the back of the couch was my daughter's Kindle Fire, in the same case as my wife's Kindle Fire that was laying on her night stand. There's no way they didn't see that, either. So why limit themselves to property belonging only to my wife and I? Maybe it's just random conspiracy thinking, but it's almost as if they knew not to steal from my friend and my daughter (as if they retained an ounce of morality).
The placement of the 2 laptops and Kindle were spread out throughout the house. Even though they were visible, it was as if they knew exactly what they wanted and where to go to get it. Our alarm was triggered at 10:49, the interior garage door was triggered at 10:55. The latter being from the officer who said the garage was the last place he checked, so that only gives a couple of minutes from the kick in to the officer arriving, and they were long gone.
Our house had $25,000 damage done due to last May's storm that's STILL being repaired. The last repair was 4 of our windows a couple of months ago. That was the only repair man that would have been in our bedroom. A month ago we ordered a new bedroom suite, where two delivery guys from Mathis Brothers were obviously in our room. But, they wouldn't have known to run to my wife's nightstand to get her Kindle, since they only dropped it off in the room and left. Although we understand nightstands are one of the first places thieves run, so that part could have been completely random. None of the stuff in the drawers was worth stealing, but they weren't disturbed at all, so they didn't open a single dresser or nightstand drawer. We've also had 1 alarm salesman and 2 alarm techs within the last 2 weeks since we've had a new alarm installed (going away from ADT). There's so many possibilities.
We park both cars in the garage and our porch lights are on 24/7. We get random calls on our landline every single day from telemarketers and we never answer a single call unless it's someone we know.
Serial numbers have been provided. We personally know 2 others outside of our immediate area in our neighborhood (one of which is a member here (I notified him last night)) and neither has heard of any other break ins. At the time of ours, the officer said no others were reported in the area.
Glad you n your family is okay, too bad you weren't there to make sure they didn't leave without being zipped up in a body bag.
Sorry to hear about this! I have a storm door and I always lock it. My friends kept asking me about why I do it until one of them got their door kicked in like this. They unfortunately had no reinforcements, alarm, etc. They had all day to pick through their stuff.
Thanks everyone. We're not too concerned with this happening while being home, though we definitely understand anything is possible, but we are worried about leaving this house unattended now. They let our dog out which is an indoor dog, so no collar or tag. Luckily, she ran straight to a guy up the road working in his garage and bothered him until my wife pulled up and got her. I don't know what's more offensive to my family, breaking into our home or setting our beloved family pet free.
Yep, which we considered even just a couple of weeks ago, but now will be coming very soon.
I have been considering surveillance cameras. Let us know what kind of system you finally installed. Thanks.
