Late last night at about 11:30pm, there was another ‘smash & grab’ style residential burglary near Marguerite and West 49th. This was the third recent burglary in the same area with a similar M.O.
The home that was targeted had a CCTV system, so we were able to watch exactly how the burglary occurred as well as get a few good shots of the suspects.
It appears as though there were at least two Caucasian males involved. Using flashlights, they first did a perimeter patrol of the property and looked through a few of the windows. One appears to have stayed out front in a vehicle, while the second male entered the backyard through a hole in the fence.
The male who came into the backyard appeared to be about 6’ tall and was wearing what appeared to be white or cream colored pants and
jacket. He was also wearing a fedora style hat. He was wearing a large backpack and was carrying a baseball sized rock in his hand as he peered through the windows on the back of the property.
Rather than using the rock, he instead used the top of a bird bath to smash two small panes of glass out of one of the back doors. After the second throw, this resulted in a hole measuring about 2 feet wide by 8 inches high. The suspect then dove through the hole, grabbed a purse that was on the kitchen counter, and then dove back out within about 10 seconds. The male then ran away through the back yard, into the alley and then circled back around in front of the house to meet up with his partner and get in the car (as later confirmed by the Police after using a dog to track the crook’s scent).
The purse that was stolen was recovered a few houses down.
Because the alarm system was armed in STAY mode, the motion detector did not trip. The residents upstairs heard the crash and opened a window in order to set off the alarm while they also called 911.
Our first responder got to the scene in time to see the two males in the car as they were taking off and provided both a description and license plate to the Police who arrived moments later.
The Police found a few fingerprints and hopefully between the combination of the prints, eye witness description and video recording, they will be able to catch the criminals responsible.
Suggestions?
- Should you observe anyone suspicious in the neighbourhood, day or night, do not hesitate to call both the Police as well as us at 604.269.9999 to come by and check it out… in this instance, the crooks spent quite a few minutes outside and on the street before breaking in.
- Take a look at your perimeter fencing and repair any missing parts… this is the second burglary in a week in Kerrisdale where access to the backyard was through a broken fence.
- Install locks on each of the gates leading to the backyard
- Consider installing a deadbolt on your master bedroom door (or kids room) so that you can lock yourself (and kids) inside in the event that you do have an incident such as this while you are home. Refer to this post about creating a saferoom.
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