help! house broken into

[vujade 0]

Hello.

 

I came home last night from work to see my home a mess. Door was busted in. They took just about everything. My saiga was safe in the safe but they took my carry piece and a ton of ammo (i gave the cops the serial number). All my wife's jewelry and all the cash we had sitting around. All my TVs, computers, movies, even my kid's toys (xbox 360, games, etc.) Cards taken... even our SSN cards.

 

Cops came and dusted for prints until midnight last night. The good thing is that oil from the gun/ammo spread his fingerprints all over the house. Still, it sounds like they can't do anything...even if witnesses say they saw the car move by our home 5 times that day and pulled into a culdesac in our subdivision.

 

I'm waiting a call from my insurance. Already the policy person said they will cover most items but jewely is capped at an insulting number (just our luck to not wear our wedding jewely that day (I got to fat to wear mine. My wife kept it at home after some seedy folks at work kept looking at it). Cash is covered up to $100. I had several thousands as my if zombies come fund.

 

I'm pretty pissed but trying to keep my spirits. I'm looking for advice from folks who have lived through this...what do I do? Advice from insuracnce folks - what do i say? what do i not say?

 

My mind is just going crazy right now. It's like a bad dream. Thanks in advance...

[Paulry 50]

Sorry to hear of your loss and nightmere! If you shot them, you would be in jail right now. It's a given. What part of the country (keep it gerneral). Not much to be able to help with. Did they try to bust the safe? Do you have reliable next door neighbors? Are you sure no one saw anything? Did anyone else get hit? How did they know you were not home? It's hard to believe no one saw anything. Could it be a local hit? I would be afraid of a repeat, if it was that easy!

 

Best wishes!

Edited March 27, 2009 by Fluid Power

[sefird 0]

Just watch out. In my neck of the woods ( N.C. ) the ASS HOLES come back in a month or 2 to get what you bought with the insurance money as it is newer and they can get more money for the goods. I know a guy that got hit 3 times in 6 months.

[read_the_wall 614]

My in-laws had the same thing happen last summer. That is when they found out over 40 homes had been hit within a 20 mile radius. Nothing had

been in the papers, no town meetings, etc. The police said there was little to nothing they could do.

 

All that can be done now is to try to get on with what is left. Be sure to improve security, as they know how to get in, and what will be replaced.

My in-laws had them come back and try again. Alert your neighbors and spread the word, because the homes around you are being watched.

 

I'm very sorry to hear about this, but at least nobody got hurt.

 

Something else to look for is alot of unknown calls coming in at certain times of the day or night.

Also, people coming to the door asking for directions, or looking for "the guy selling something on craigs list".

Unknown cars driving past at the same time for a few days in a row.

Edited March 27, 2009 by read_the_wall

[Paulry 50]

OH I forgot to add, get about 3 German Shepherds! The barking will help!

[vbrtrmn 167]

The main thing that you should remember now is the fuck nut who robbed your house knows you have a safe. If he's anywhere near a "professional" robber, he'll be back with tools to try to bust your safe open; especially since he got away with a lot of expensive stuff on the first trip. If you can afford it, you should consider getting a security service like ADT or whomever.

 

I read my Home Owner's Insurance policy every year, to make sure I have enough coverage. The first time I read through it, it listed $500 worth of firearms is covered, I called and had it bumped up to $2000, probably should re-evaluate that again. Anyway, you always want to check the exceptions in your HOI, they always do limits on stuff like jewelry, firearms, cash, etc; be sure you have enough coverage in each category. Increasing from $500 to $2000 didn't increase my monthly payment much at all, maybe a buck or two.

 

As you start to rebuild your collections of stuff, it is always a good idea to take pictures of what you've got and store them on the internet or something like that; you can make a private flickr.com or multiply.com account and keep the photos there, so they're essentially safe from a smash and grab burger. When you take the pictures include a ruler which is clearly visible and write up a good description of exactly what the item is. This will also help in re-evaluating your insurance policy, since you'll have a list of all of your valuable possessions.

 

Good luck to you and your wife, sir. I hope you can get either your actual stuff back or fair replacements, remember stuff is on only stuff. In the end stuff doesn't really matter; the only thing that really matters is both you and your wife are unharmed.

[cvasqu03 21]

Sorry to hear about this. This is truly a terrible thing to happen. We were broken into once almost 20 yrs ago and I still remember it. We didn't even lose much since we didn't have anything of value at the time (we were on welfare for crying out loud), but I know how you feel violated to have someone ransacking your things. It's good that they didn't get the stuff in your safe, and it makes me feel good that I got a safe now too, but it sounds like you're going to take a hit.

 

Something like this completely changes your outlook on things. To this day I try to think about how I would deal with something like this if it were to happen again and plan accordingly. Unfortunately the only things I can suggest will sound like after the fact advice. For instance if you need to keep cash on hand, it might be better to keep it in your safe. If the most secure safe you have is your gun safe, then by all means keep your cash in there. As far as a carry piece, I keep mine in a smaller safe with a quick electronic lock that is mounted to a wall above a shelf. It's hidden in plain sight along with some books and covered by a small map box. Anyone looking in that direction would only see a stack of books and papers but I can move the box over and dial the combination in seconds revealing my carry piece (which is the only one I keep loaded). I do keep some other small items there, mostly documents, but it's purpose was really just for the gun. If someone where to somehow defeat this safe, then they only got one of my firearms. The bigger safe is equally hidden and almost impossible to steal as a whole. Of course it's always good to have photocopies of all your personal documents. If you keep an extra copy on a USB drive that you keep with you, then you at least will have printable copies if your computers are stolen. If you can't do this, you can keep files on a CD that you keep in your safe.

 

When you have some time you may want to re-evaluate your security situation. Obviously your safe worked, see what else worked and what failed and think the problem through. There is no single solution that fits everyone. For now you need to relax. Try to take a deep breath and remember that you will recover from this. Don't try to lie to yourself that it's OK, it's not OK, but you will recover from this.

[vujade 0]

thanks so much for the replies guys. i'm taking them of note.

 

To answer some questions - I live in the South. Neighbors are pretty good/nice. Dogs barked around that time. Lady cutting her grass saw some punk in a low rider truck pass by several times giving her ugly looks (the truck that pulled up to the neighborhood cudesac).

 

I moved all the big guns from the safe and storing with a family member. Alarm system on the way as soon as the ATT landline installer guy comes. I wish i could get a dog but my wife is alergic of animals.

 

I'll be getting another safe for the ammo so that EVERYTHING is locked inside. The safe there now is pretty heavy. 300 pounds unloaded and it's up a flight of stairs. 600 pounds loaded with the stuff inside. it looked untouched! not even a hammer mark or anything! (is that odd?)

 

I'm scared if they come back as some of you have said... I'm going to get a new carry gun and ALWAYS carry from now on.

I had to clear the house with a baseball bat when i got home... maybe not wise...i wasn't thinking straight.

[vujade 0]

man... they looked at places I now think are "pretty good ideas" disregarding what occured...

 

they went through my food storage, dumped my sugar all over maybe thinking i hid stuff in the sugar jar, went through detergent, went through CDs (they took all my old rap CDs from when I used to listen to Snoop Dog in high school), busted through some nice pictures, looked under clothes drawers (incase someone tapped stuff under like we did).... these guys have done this before.

 

We barricaded our back door with heavy furniture before we leave each day...enough kicking and it will eventually move.

 

One thing i regret is I had a picture of my family at the range on the fireplace... i may have hinted to them of what hid in the house.

[loki0629 55]

vujade,

 

Sorry to hear about your situation. You're probably pissed to say the least and understandably so but you've got the right attitude. Try and keep your spirits up because your wife and kids are going to need you to be strong right now.

 

Take stock of the situation. You know what was taken and you're going to have to rely on the police to do their work. Find your insurance policy and go over it with a fine tooth comb. Losing the cash is a big hit but you should be able to get everything else replaced. Track down whatever receipts you can, get printouts from your bank card or credit cards that shows anything that you purchased. Find any video that you've taken inside your home that can be used to prove you owned certain items if the insurance company needs proof. An adjuster will be assigned to your claim and they may require a copy of the police report. If they do, get that to them as soon as possible.

 

About 10 years ago, our home was broken into in broad daylight. This person (or persons) broke the front door and never got any further. I had two dogs at the time and they were enough of a deterrent. My wife got a call from a buddy of mine in the local PD. He had been called regarding a big dog loose on my yard and when he went to investigate, he saw that my door had been broken in. We were really lucky that time and the biggest damage was having the door replaced. However we did learn that our policy would have replaced the stolen items providing that we could prove that we had them. Since then I've made it a point to keep receipts (these days I make scanned copies), and at least once a year I'll take video footage of the contents of our house.

 

I wish you and your family the best, especially your kids. Be strong for them, remember that you've still got them and you WILL recover from this.

[vujade 0]

interesting note also, the cop told me quite passionately that the next time it happens if i'm home...shoot the guy. just make sure he is facing you.

 

I've been a pacifist by nature.. i always thought i'd shoot him/her in the leg or something... i'm saying this in anger...i'm pretty calm as I type this but I've convinced myself to now aim centermass.

[vujade 0]

man, i wish i had done all this before this occured. i hope folks reading this can prevent it from happening to them...

 

I'm going to video tape all our items and store at my moms house or safety deposit box. keep ALL items locked. keep some ammo with my sister and another stash with my parents and have them keep some of their ammo with me (don't put all our eggs in a basket).

 

I'm going to try to get a dog...i'm not sure how that willwork with the health stuff but i'll see.

 

It's already too long waiting for the land line and alarm guy...

[waynebar 52]

I am truly sorry to hear of your misfortune. Exactly what you have described happened to my family about 30 years ago. I will tell you from experience be truthful with the insurance company, but thorough. By this I mean take a very hard look around your home and inventory everything. You will be surprised how weeks, months, to even years later , you will one day realize when you go to use something , IT"S GONE. I had a S&W 4" 357 taken, a new Colt Gold Cup match grade barreled 45, and several inexpensive pistols taken. The Smith was found in a pawn shop several years later and for the cost of the pawn I was able to BUY my gun back AGAIN. The Gold CUp I will probably never see again. I advise everyone on this forum to invest in a good gun safe, for obvious reasons. We lost jewelry, and expensive collectables that wife misses to this day. No matter what, I am sorry to say, YOU WILL NOT BE MADE WHOLE AGAIN BY THE INSURANCE PAY BACK. Moving on to life in your home after the break in, I wish you luck. We actually had to move less than a year after because my wife was never able to be alone in the house. Let me explain, two weeks after the break in someone tried to break in during the day, while she was home alone with my first son who was one year old at the time. We were warned by the police that this might happen, it was a pattern that was happening in the area. This was before 911, my wife called me at work, I immediately jumped in my car, had my partner call the police and I raced home, a fifteen minute drive. WE got lucky that day, someone or something scared(them, him) off. I hope things work out better for you than me.

[vujade 0]

question - i purchased ammo many years ago when it was "cheap". now that's it's more than double/triple the price (if you can find ammo), what value do you tell the insurance?

 

likewise with my handgun. I bought it used for a very good price. A brand new one will cost double that price. Do I tell insurance the original purchase deal price or the current to replace value.

 

It sucks... my wife realized that aside from her wedding ring, jewelry her mom/grandparents gave her are gone. worth $10,000+. Insurance will cover up to $2000.

 

I'm going to up the insurance when this is all done.

 

my big underlying fear is what happened to you wayneb...what if they come back and i'm not home to protect my kid or wife...

[loki0629 55]

question - i purchased ammo many years ago when it was "cheap". now that's it's more than double/triple the price (if you can find ammo), what value do you tell the insurance?

 

likewise with my handgun. I bought it used for a very good price. A brand new one will cost double that price. Do I tell insurance the original purchase deal price or the current to replace value.

 

It sucks... my wife realized that aside from her wedding ring, jewelry her mom/grandparents gave her are gone. worth $10,000+. Insurance will cover up to $2000.

 

I'm going to up the insurance when this is all done.

 

my big underlying fear is what happened to you wayneb...what if they come back and i'm not home to protect my kid or wife...

 

The value is what you would have to pay at current market prices to replace what was lost. In this case the number of rounds is more important that what you paid for it.

 

Also, in regards to your wife's allergies, look into a non-shedding breed or one of those ionizing air cleaners. I have a friend who has allergies and she has a standard poodle as a pet. The standard poodle is not the foo-foo looking toy poodle that most people think of. It's MUCH bigger and was bred as a working dog.

[waynebar 52]

If you have a good relationship with your insurance agent he will advise you how to approach some of these questions. The issue of your family's safety is very difficult to assess . There is more to my break in, that made it hard to deal with. When we go home I noticed something was wrong because the front door was opened, the back kitchen door, and the patio doors. (I later learned from the police that pros do this so they can get out quickly). I casually asked my wife if she left a door open, not realizing what I was seeing. Your mind becomes lazy when you are not accustomed to crisis situations. I walked into my home, not realizing someone was still inside. I yelled to my wife to run with the baby, and chased a shadow to my front door. She screamed for me to come back to protect them, I stopped chasing the asshole, there safety was definitely more important. Nothing is more valuable than your family. I have to admit to this day I wonder if I had caught whoever it was, if emotionally she would be better dealing with noises in the night?

[vbrtrmn 167]

I have to admit to this day I wonder if I had caught whoever it was, if emotionally she would be better dealing with noises in the night?

Well, if you had caught up to whoever it was, you could be dead, so how things played out is probably better.

[scarbrough68289 76]

I am a big fan of a new product we sell at Lowe's. It's called Door Jamb Armor It's about $119 and really makes your door virtually impossible to kick in. They even used a police battering ram and it with stood the impact. We{Lowe's} also sell windows and stormdoors with laminate glass and they are hard to break in as well.

Edited March 27, 2009 by obake

[DogMan 2,343]

Just watch out. In my neck of the woods ( N.C. ) the ASS HOLES come back in a month or 2 to get what you bought with the insurance money as it is newer and they can get more money for the goods. I know a guy that got hit 3 times in 6 months.

 

Amen to that. You may be a bigger target now than you were before. I "heard" of a guy who boobytrapped his house after a burglary and when the thief came back again he electricuted himself. I'm not recommending this, I'm just saying........

[Paladin 37]

Damn!, I sorry that this happened to you. I've had my apartment and my car broken into before.

 

Since your at a higher risk now than even before I would take a tour around you're house from the outside and look at windows, doors, any way they could get in and formulate a plan for securing or reinforcing them.

 

I have also "heard" of traps being set. It could be a non lethal set up, like OC spray with marking die tied into a trip wire. Easy to set when you're away or when your wife is home alone. Intruders get hit with it they are not likely to stick around waiting to recover.

[vbrtrmn 167]

Sorry this is off topic...

 

We{Lowe's} also sell windows and stormdoors with laminate glass and they are hard to break in as well.

 

You work at Lowe's? Lowe's is the only "big box" store which I enjoy going to, everything is always so easy to find, no matter what store I go into and customer service is always happy to help you. Unlike HomeDepot, where customer service is non-existent and the stores are always trashed; at least in my area anyway. One time I went to three HD's looking for goddamn 1/4-inch bolts, all three were out; at the last one I went to, I asked a rep and he walked to the isle and pulled out the 1/4-inch nuts, then quickly ran off; for revenge, I shoved the entire row of boxes of nuts and bolts back behind the shelf. I went to Lowe's later and found what I was looking for in less than a minute, went to customer service and thanked them for having freaking bolts, unlike their competitor.

[gunman1 1,753]

my big underlying fear is what happened to you wayneb...what if they come back and i'm not home to protect my kid or wife...

This is why everyone in my house is personaly armed and has CC. I've been hit like that before and they did come back again right after I bought all the stuff back. They stole our security and it took a long time to get over it. Our prayers will be with you and yours.

 

Dean.

[gunman1 1,753]

Just watch out. In my neck of the woods ( N.C. ) the ASS HOLES come back in a month or 2 to get what you bought with the insurance money as it is newer and they can get more money for the goods. I know a guy that got hit 3 times in 6 months.

 

Amen to that. You may be a bigger target now than you were before. I "heard" of a guy who boobytrapped his house after a burglary and when the thief came back again he electricuted himself. I'm not recommending this, I'm just saying........

If it's the same one I'm thinking of, they prosecuted the homeowner, be carefull.

[vbrtrmn 167]

my big underlying fear is what happened to you wayneb...what if they come back and i'm not home to protect my kid or wife...

Teach your wife how to use the pump gun, a 12-gauge is enough to make anyone shit their pants and run. I'm probably going to pickup a pump gun for the GF this weekend.

[cellsworth 21]

I'm really sorry about what happened. My house was broken into about a year ago, and quite a bit was taken. Fortunately, the gun cabinet held up, and they didn't get any of my guns or rifle ammo.

 

I agree with the excellent advice given above. Keep receipts for "important" items. Record serial numbers for all firearms and other "important" items that have them. Photograph/Video almost everything and keep the records in a very safe place (a safety deposit box or serious fire safe bolted to the floor). Get the best gun safe you can reasonably afford, bolt it to the floor, and USE it. I have learned that a gun cabinet (even a metal one) is NOT enough. I got lucky and mine held up, but all the crooks were using to try to pry it open was a bayonet they found. If they had a crowbar, they would have gotten in. A good alarm system and sturdy doors/windows can help. Criminals are generally looking for easy targets. The harder you make it for them, the less likely they are to even try. That probably explains why there were no marks on the safe. If they knew they were not going to get into it, they probably wouldn't even make an attempt.

 

As others have stated, use current replacement value for the items taken for insurance purposes. The insurance company will take the age of the items into account, and depreciate their value for you (how nice of them). Note that once the insurance company pays the claim, then in the unlikely event that the police recover any items, you will probably not get them back. Usually that is not a big deal, but it can be for items that have sentimental value.

 

If good prints were lifted, then you may get lucky. If the crook has been through the system, their prints will be on record, and the computer check will give the police one or more suspects.

 

I know things can seem overwhelming in the immediate aftermath of a burglary. Take things step by step and you'll get through it OK. Best of luck.

[vujade 0]

thanks for the awesome advice. and equally so just he feeling of friendly/family i have here. I've only joined recently but i feel your comradere (my comrads!).

 

When this all happened and we looked for answers (and a place to just talk), i told my wife I'll log into the forum as soon as we got to her parents home and i'm sure we'll find answers there.

 

I'll be going to Lowes now. I guess it can be installed once the new doors are installed.

[vujade 0]

my kid just came in. she's 5. we had to tell her that the wind like the wizard of oz came into the house and made the mess. it took all her games/big toys.

 

she's crying... she's quiet upset that she has to start over in Zelda now (she almost beat twilight princess with me).

 

those bastards.

[Paulry 50]

Edited March 27, 2009 by Fluid Power

[vujade 0]

thanks for the words Fluid_Power.

 

I remember the words during my carry class (taught by a current police officer)...basically, if you have to shoot/kill someone even if rightfully so, you're facing probably jail time that night, gun confiscation, legal fees up to 15000+. Is that a sick game or what? Who made up these "rules"? Maybe I'm just upset but it seems like you loose if you don't protect yourself and you loose if you do protect yourself (but atleast your still alive to play again).

 

I'm now going to always carry my full sized pistol until I find another smaller handgun to fill that role.

 

I'm almost speechless - i just cleared my home again with my handgun (we stayed the night at family's home). It didn't feel like home. I don't like the idea of having to clear my own home and make sure there aren't any bogeymen each day. and then the thought that there will be the $15000 that insurance won't pay for (court cost), the jail time, etc.

 

...i dunno...the clearer my mind gets as i'm calming down...the muddier things seem...

[janusthephoenix 24]

You mentioned your SSN cards were stolen. You took all the necessary precautions to protect your identity right?

 

In your case, Life Lock might be a good idea. They're not perfect, but it's something.