On Friday night, a strange break-in occurred on Puget Drive… strange because the burglary occurred at 8:00pm on a Friday and also strange because of the size of the crook…. (here’s a link to an article in the Courier about it)
We received signals starting at 8:03 and we were at the house by 8:05. Our responder who arrived first ended up in a physical confrontation with the crook and, although he had to let the burglar go for his own personal safety, was able to save many thousands of dollars of jewellery and other client property. The crook was described as a white male, late 20’s, short dark hair and approximately 240 pounds. He was clean cut and did not at all fit the typical description of a West side burglar (which is, invariably, a short male a little more than half of this guys weight)… he gained access by smashing a full size glass panel in the back door with a large screwdriver that he was carrying…. As is typical of most break-ins, he went straight to the master bedroom and was interrupted by our responder shortly thereafter.
We dispatched the police right away who came with several cars as well as a dog that unfortunately was unable to track the suspect. We guess that he likely had a car waiting up the block because he did not really have a huge opportunity to get away.
The next day another home (that we did not monitor) on Quesnel got hit by someone in the almost exact same manner and time. With a little more time on his hands this time, the crook ripped the alarm panel and siren right off the wall. The police surmised that it was likely the work of the same crook. Unfortunately, without any response in place, the crook was able to get away with some personal property of the owner. We were called the following day and have since expanded the alarm system and connected it to our central monitoring station in Kerrisdale.
Lessons from these breakins?
- as always, you must 5 minute proof your most important belongings so that they cannot be taken; and
- your alarm siren should not be located next to your main control panel… it provides an unnecessary trail directly to the heart of your system