help! house broken into

[termite 463]

While you are adding to things, install the security system, we did when we built our house 4 years ago, had it upgraded with video cameras 8 months ago. I can now be at the shop, log onto the net, and watch my cameras, inside and out. I get an e-mail everytime the system is armed or dis-armed, can also get text if I want them. I had them set the delay on the system to instant when away and 15 seconds on stay, but almost every night, I bypass it to instant/stay. The system will also record video when tripped, which is stored off sight. Battery back up for power failures and cell back up if phone line is cut. Also have motion flood lights at 3 points on house covering 100%. I will gaurantee you that if you are asleep and that fricking alarm goes off, your butt will be blown out of bed. The wife got pissed at the druggies across the street and all the noise, stormed out the front door, not realizing that I had set it to instant/stay, I like to have pissed on myself, when I saw she wasn't in bed, went down the hall, turned and saw the front door open, and her mouth flapping in the breeze, :) even the assholes across the street weren't able to hear her, or they would have learned some new words, but most of all, IT'S HEART STOPPING AS HELL when it happens. But invest in a GOOD system with GOOD monitoring. The guy that installed ours, even showed me how to hook up a DVR to it. But by no means, would I run from these bastards. As far as booby traps for early warning devices, they are out there if you want them, but be careful and ONLY use blanks to scare them and alert you, bunch of well placed 12 gauge blank shells with well hidden trip wires would help slow them down. You can always replace "things", but you can never replace the things that are most important, FAMILY.

[Steelin' Ducks 1]

I'm so glad to hear that you and your family are ok. I have never had a home broken into. Trucks and equipment yes but no house. Bigger safe, mine tops the scale at 1600 lbs. Put everything in it. Alarm, the siren alone will run them off. Cameras are great too for after the fact.

[Azrial 1,091]

Here is my advice.

 

For now, dig up as many serial numbers for the stolen items as you can. Contact the businesses that you bought the items from, they may be able to help. Also if you have any extended warranties, the companies that make good on those warranties will keep track of your item by the serial number. Make sure that the serial numbers are added to a police supplemental report and then entered into NCIC. Also make sure that the PD turns them over to their "Pawn Desk," if that have one.

 

If you move, or otherwise change your address make sure that the cops know, and enter it on a supplemental report with the same case number. Many times items are recovered and we are unable to contact the lawful owner due to no forwarding address.

 

Take the time to tall\k to your neighborers yourself and see if they saw anything that might only mean something to you. Then notify the police of your findings.

 

Good luck, I am very sorry that this has happened to you!

 

 

Get an alarm and have someone that you trust and live nearby be your backup if it goes off. They should agree to come and search your home if you are out of town or indisposed and make sure that it is secure. When you are home it will give you more time to make ready should someone try come in on you.

[gunman1 1,753]

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.

 

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

I'm so sorry this happened to you, at the same time I want to thank you for sharing it with us, I went and paid for the safe today and will pick it up tomorrow. We now have a plan and will follow through with it.

 

Again, very sorry it happened and hope your family is doing better today.

[sidewinderl 43]

i'm trying to remember every movie i've purchased! for the list.

 

...doesn't help after the fact, but I use dvd aficionado to keep track of the movies I own, and I use sites like ign and gamespot to keep a list of the video games. There might be a similar site out there for keeping track of a music cd collection...I don't have a whole lot of music, so I haven't bothered looking.

[Modiano 5]

i knew everyone else has chimed in, but sometimes it's nice to look at a game plan. i must add that i'm sorry to hear about the invasion of your home and loss of irreplaceable items.

 

 

"trained" crooks know what fake alarms signs look like. don't ever get those.

 

1. an alert dog, regardless of size, is a great a deterrent. not as good as a 12ga cha-chunk or an AK cha-clack, but most crooks will move on. if you're allergic, keep moving down the list.

 

2. burglar bars may not look nice, but they do a very good job unless your door/window frames are rotting...or if a determined crook uses a truck to pull them off... most crooks will simply pass up your house and rob one of your neighbors that doesn't have bars. bars are a great deterrent, but open or unlocked gates scream "this fool is slippin...just pull a kick-door". of course, not everyone is willing to have bars on their house.

 

 

 

 

if preventative measures fail, hope that you can minimize your losses, and bust those douche bags at the same time

 

1. a silent alarm MIGHT let cops catch them in the act, but an audible alarm MIGHT scare them off or at alert neighbors. alarms don't work unless someone breaks in.

 

2. all family jewels, non-carry firearms, precious metals, cash stashes, and id documents should stay in your safe...which is securely bolted to the wall or floor. if its irreplaceable and crooks think they can get a couple bucks for it, keep it in the safe.

 

3. most consumer electronic are just a monetary loss, but many people these days are backing up their important personal documents and irreplaceable photographs/videos on their computer. the best thing to do is to have an external hard drive or fileserver stashed in your attic or hard to access place and connect it to your network wirelessly or hardwired. that's what i've got going on. my programs are installed on my computer, but my documents like music, pictures, video, and personal files are sitting on a fileserver. you can even have separate directories for each family member. for me, the 1st reason of having a separate fileserver is in case my computer's hard drive dies. 2nd reason is possible theft.

 

4. if you can't keep crooks out, i would highly recommend a security system with multiple video cameras. you usually can't pick someone out of a line up using just a low quality time lapse video, but you can see places that are touched...lazy/unconcerned cops will refuse to dust every room, but if you can show them 5 specific spots, they don't have much of an excuse. if they're still lazy, go to the media and embarrass the dept. cameras with audio could be very useful if there is more than one crook. you'll get their voice, and they might even call their partner by name

 

 

 

"professional burglars" usually work alone. they usually work in the daytime from 9am-11am(avoiding when tenants might be home for lunch or kids home from school). they usually case the house a week or less before they break in, and might pose as a utility worker or just a guy looking for odd jobs like lawn care.

[vujade 0]

The last few days have been very hard for my family. My wife would throw up and cry uncontrollably at the thought. .. but we struggled and finally got the house more less cleaned and in order. I'm waiting for the alarm guy to come by now.

 

She still won't sleep at the house. It got better last night when we left for my mother in laws (where we have been sleeping) when she agreed that thursday or friday we can start sleeping at our home again.

 

update on the investigation:

 

One of the homes near my house usually has many mexicans in the street smoking/drinking/hanging around (it's not that kind of neighborhood but I guess we tolerate it since they aren't very loud - just always a lot of cars/people on the street). Well, after the break in, no one. no cars. no one on the street. etc. We've visited the actual home owners and we didn't find anything suspicious. Not sure if that means anything but i get the hibby jibbys when I think about it.

 

update from last night:

 

We've been staying at my mother in laws house. I get a call at midnight last night. Our neighbor (good neighbors) reports that there is a car that has been rolling slowly specifically at my house (and another house which had nice cars in the driveway). It circled probably 3-4 times until he went outside to try to get a license... it didn't return.

 

My wife calls the cops. I run to the house with my gun (my wife tells cops what I look like). I scout around and stare at my house waiting for something to happen anything...nothing. cops didn't even come by. I stayed for about 30-40 minutes until my wife kept calling me to just come home.

 

My safe is still there. I'm sure they are curious. I've moved my guns and ammo out of the safe but they don't know that. My wife is traumatized more than ever. She just wants to move. I don't want to be bullied and want to stay. I don't know anymore...

 

I'm sitting here now waiting for the alarm guy to come with my back up gun on my back. mad on one side. scared on another. i just want life to be back to normal again...

[read_the_wall 614]

Wow, that sucks. My wife and I stayed at my in-laws for a few nights after their break in. We parked our cars at another house,

hoping they would try again. No lights on, no t.v., Night vision, AR pistol with green laser sights, shotgun, ect...lol....

It still was very uncomfortable, did not sleep well. They didn't come back and try again until about a month later. They did not

like all the noise the security system made that time.

I should add, so that people don't think I'm too crazy, that when the house was broke into the first time, my wife had pulled in and

seen the door open and a pile of stuff behind the house. She went down the street to get her brother, when they came back, her parents

truck was gone with a whole bunch of stuff. Upon entry of the house, they found a baseball bat and a golf club lying on the floor on the

living room. We think they would have used them if she had gone in.

Scary stuff, be careful and be alert.

good luck

[vbrtrmn 167]

we had $ sprinkled around the house like good little squirrels for when zombies would take over.

On a humorous note, cash isn't going to do you much good if the zombies come or the SHTF for that matter.

 

I want to figure out a way to electrify the handle on that gate with just enough amps and volts to knock someone on their ass without killing them, making them afraid to touch anything else. Electricity is not my best subject, does anybody know if this can be done?

 

You'd get fucked by this, if a kid happened to touch your gate fence and get killed. NEVER EVER EVER booby trap your house!

 

another note... my wife keeps telling me she wants to move out. that she can't stay there anymore. etc. i'm trying to be understanding - don't want to upset her more. i hope that this too will pass.

 

If she doesn't want to stay there, because she thinks it is unsafe; move out.

 

After reading all of your posts, I'm apt to go with her on that opinion, time to get out, before something really bad happens. Your family's safety is worth more than any loss you'd take on the house.

[vujade 0]

thanks for everyone comments. I hope that this can help others... so i'll continue to relate things as they go on and as i learn new things.

 

I'm learning a lot about door jambs. Most door units are just the cheap stuff... they sell vinyl door jambs are are much stronger. Lowes guys said that they are better than steel (and doors also) since they give a little and won't dent/rust.

 

I'm working with insurance now. I hope i get enough $ to replace our stuff. I am adding additional coverage for my guns. it comes out to $8-9/$1000 per year. I feel odd having to let the insurance guys how much stuff i have but i keep in generic...like rifle ammo instead of 7.62x39 and 308 ammo.

 

I'm getting a bigger safe. I went' cheap and got a medium safe. best advice that i've seen many times is just get the best/biggest one for your needs. I'm going to keep all my ammo in there now also.

 

Even after reading your posts, I continue to use it as a reference. I'm also sending it to many friends/family. I hope that it can help someone.

[vujade 0]

update:

We've been cleaning/organizing the house..all the while finding that we lost this or that...

 

Detective came the other day. He's really nice but I know loosing personal items is nothing compared to the homicides/kidnapping out there so chances of retribution will be slim. He convinced me to always carry and answer the door with the gun at all times though - just in case.

 

Alarm is installed. Door is back in place. Going to work on the bedroom doors this weekend.

 

Insurance company - we are still waiting for checks, answers, etc. They are also very nice but it's a long process. In the meanwhile, these repairs for the house/food/etc. are getting costly.

 

The hardest part is that the wife doesn't want to move in yet. Or even move in at all. I don't know how I can convince her that it's safe now. She would really prefer to move. Our area borders the really good part of town and the really bad part of town. This may be a catalyst for us to move. i don't know. I really like the house but would like to able to have a home again - even if it means a new house.

[G O B 3,516]

Get the wife a German Shepard, or a standard Poodle. You NEED a dog.

[ninja steve 0]

Get the wife a German Shepard, or a standard Poodle. You NEED a dog.

+1 on the dog. We have a german shepard and he barks at all kinds of random things, I make it a point to not get onto him for barking but rather to see what he is barking at. Also about the guns, you might try hiding them. My parents have a hole cut in the floor in a corner of the room with a chest on top of it. You have to pull the carpet away to notice it, might even be a way to lock it idk. Good luck on the whole deal though.

[termite 463]

Make DAMN sure you and your wife know how to use the alarm system and understand how it works. Ours has a feature that even if someone gets in, the siren is blaring, they tell us to turn it off, a special sequense of the same # of buttons and the OFF key, will turn it off, but also send silent alarm with "emergency status". If she is uncomfortable being there, make sure it's set to "stay/instant". Did they install any outside cameras?, I've added some outside that are night vision, and when the flood lights are off outside, if you look up at them, there is a small glow coming from the led's. Some people say they are an instant give away, but I say, that if someone is out there and sees them, they will know that they are being either taped and/or watched. I hope that you and your wife can get beyond this and she will move home, but running from this type of shit only makes the thugs bolder. Another thing you may want to do is install motion activated flood lights outside, and don't be shy about the wattage of the bulbs, twin 500 watt halogens are nice, and eye burners too, if need be, I'd light that house up like a landing strip at night if I had too, ROACHES don't like bright lights. As a last resort, catch one of the assholes, cut his nuts out and string him up from a power poll in the nieghborhood, and then hang his nuts from your mirror in the car. Just kidding, but it makes you feel better to say it. On second thought, I WOULD. :)