Got robbed by some low life

[Jeff K]

Joanne went to the store, she was only gone for 2 hours. She came home and the front door was kicked in! They weren't there long, the got her jewelry boxes, a lot of family heirlooms, my Taurus PT945 hand gun, the spare mags, about 100 rounds of ammo. They went through the drawers in the bedroom, and the computer room.

What is odd beyond belief is that they walked past two laptop computers, two digital cameras, better than a dozen long guns, etc. WTF?
Joanne called me at work and told me about the breaking and said I don't see anything missing. I said what about the guns, she said oh, no, the gun in the nightstand is gone. So I said call 911 and hung up. I then thought I should have told her to get the hell out of the house. When I called back she didn't answer, I figured she would call back and ran for the door. I tried several times and still couldn't get an answer. So I called 911. They said they had not heard from her and they would get a car there right away. I told them they had my gun and I was worried about her being there alone.

It takes me 40 minutes to get home, I got there before the police did. Jo was fine, she had walked down to the neighbors to see if they were home.
A retied cop rolls up. I said 60 minute response time for a call like this? he said "I had a long drive. They didn't tell him that I couldn't get a hold of my wife, or the missing gun.  I was pissed.

I told him the next call would be for them to come get the bodies. He said "do what you have to do" "I know how to fill out the paper work"

Living in a rural secluded setting has benefits but it does have a down side.

[CajunRider]

That SUCKS!!!

I'm sorry to hear that. 

My sympathies...

[..]

Be aware that they do know how long it takes for insurance to cough up and for someone to replace stuff. You might get another visit.

[big turkey]

Glad your wife is OK.

Guns and stuff can be replaced.

I know you live in a remote location but ADT or some other provider could provide a audible alarm

and other services as well.

Alarms sort of unnerve a burglar or other type of felon to maybe rethinking the move they are

about to make.

I know you feel invaded and all, but count your blessings and get some more security.

It's not your fault it happened, it's the damn thieves fault, I am like ole Ted Nugent he says

"I don't like repeat offenders , I like dead offenders".

Al

[Jeff K]

That SUCKS!!!

I'm sorry to hear that. 

My sympathies...

Kinda lost that "warm and fuzzy" feeling being home. It doesn't feel comfortable any more.

Now I'm obsessing about what to do next. They saw all my stuff, why wouldn't they come back for it?
Alarm system? No phone line. And the response times out here are just laughable.
The LEO said "buy a dog".

Gotta move the valuables, now that they know whats here. Long guns, safe, etc.

[Jeff K]

Be aware that they do know how long it takes for insurance to cough up and for someone to replace stuff. You might get another visit.

Seriously debating the insurance thing. $1,000 deductible. Where do you draw the line? I mean if I claim $2,000 for the jewelry, and $1,000 for the gun, mag, ammo and damage to the door.
What will my insurance go up?

[PAVALKER]

This pisses me off.....  damn shame.  Sorry for your situation and losses.  Just goes to show you that we are all vulnerable like that.  Makes ya wonder if they were not watching to make sure the place was all clear..... something you and your bride should be aware of (strange vehicles).  I hope things work out and that they find the who done it.....  Good luck.

[stormrider]

Hate to hear about the break in. Glad your wife didn't drive up on em. My son, James, had the same thing happen about 4 months ago. The punk kids got busted the next day. The law did their job, the judge didn't. BTY, in Alabama, their's a lady name of Sue Bell Cobb, yea, I want everybody to know, that got the laws changed about how they deal with juvees. Just a slap on the back of the hand. The kids are walkin the streets again. James is moving so he doesn't have to face the situation of popin a cap in em.

And yep, a big ole porch dog will do the trick most times. German Shepherds are pretty protective and make great pets.

[highcountry]

That sucks!  Hopefully they will get caught with the goods.

[JimL]

I'm glad you didn't do something to that/those pile(s) of dog sh*t that the law and/or ACLU would prosecute YOU for............

[Robert]

Sorry Jeff it takes awhile to feel comfortable in your home again after feeling violated. Security cameras safes and alarm along with a dog. Honestly if you can do it a safe room would be very nice. The cameras can be monitored on the internet and may give some indications to who did it. It provides a little discouragement and not expensive. The alarm with central monitoring can go through the internet phone with a air card, another deterrent and they could call you and you could call a neighbor maybe and the Police would already have been there. Of course stronger doors and hurricane windows would be a deterrent also. YOu cold also setup a perimeter alarm just to freak anyone out that may try it in the future. I would bet you that you may already have a idea of who may have done it, they had to have the time to search and wanted easy things to get rid of most likely for drugs. Pawn shops have to keep records but jewelry and such no problem getting rid of.
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ces200415.htm
http://www.phonelabs.com/prd05.asp
With this system you can use a cell phone and hook it to your alarm to dial out.

[Jeff K]

I'm glad you didn't do something to that/those pile(s) of dog sh*t that the law and/or ACLU would prosecute YOU for............

I Florida if you feel your life is in danger it is perfectly legal to become judge, jury, and executioner.

[Jeff K]

Sorry Jeff it takes awhile to feel comfortable in your home again after feeling violated. Security cameras safes and alarm along with a dog. Honestly if you can do it a safe room would be very nice. The cameras can be monitored on the internet and may give some indications to who did it. It provides a little discouragement and not expensive. The alarm with central monitoring can go through the internet phone with a air card, another deterrent and they could call you and you could call a neighbor maybe and the Police would already have been there. Of course stronger doors and hurricane windows would be a deterrent also. YOu cold also setup a perimeter alarm just to freak anyone out that may try it in the future. I would bet you that you may already have a idea of who may have done it, they had to have the time to search and wanted easy things to get rid of most likely for drugs. Pawn shops have to keep records but jewelry and such no problem getting rid of.

No hard line for a security system. We run on two cell phones, and a bluetooth phone system.
No high speed internet
No real neighbors, the nearest one is quite a ways off. We don't live on a road, or in a development. If there is any traffic it is coming to my house or further up the private drive to the next house.

I have to come up with a plan though. A security system might deter some, but they still have plenty of time before the law would ever show up.

[Daniel Meyer]

Sorry to hear that Jeff. The warm feeling will come back. Replace the handgun. Make sure the wife knows how to use it.

An audible alarm can be effective, even out there. Tends to spook the casual crooks and warns folks coming on the scene (you or the wife coming home) that something's up. Add a strobe on the roof along with the siren inside...

Consider a game camera hidden somewhere that will snap your driveway and/or doors for a bit. You and others are right...they may come back. Hate to say it, but if you are fairly rural, it's probably somebody nearby...I'd guess kids/teens by what they went after....

Be safe...

[Robert]

Jeff look into that Phone labs setup, could wire a alarm right into the cell phone.

[chip]

Makes me sick ! We work way to hard & long, to get where we are honestly. Unlike some. Sorry Jeff.

[Stude]

 That's a shame... from what you were saying it sounds like they were watching the house. My fathers house was hit 7 times over 2 years. Put in some motion camers inside bird houses around
the outside as well as in the house. My friend has this and it works very well http://10x.com/ the cameras only come on when needed and will record to a VCR or computer... I think they will
also work to a cell phone

[Jess Tolbirt]

Jeff,
if it will help you,, the warm fuzzy feeling will return in a few short months,, i say this because i was broken into some years back and they took all my guns and digital cameras.. then i find out my homeowners didnt cover firearms or electronics,, boy was i pissed off,, so i told the ins company about all those high dollar clothes i had,,,i am trailer trash LOL,, but i replaced everything and now there is a gun in every room....

[fstsix]

Never had a alarm myself but, Friend of mine does alarms and gives me the stickers to put on my windows anyway, Some of these Crack heads prolly don't know about the the phone line thing, just makes them think twice, Glad the Wife is OK!!

[Stude]

http://www.x10.com/promotions/xx20a_3cam_ps.html

[Jess from VA]

Very sorry to hear this.  I am hoping to retire to a home as rural and out in the sticks as I can find, and this is a worry.

Do not let them take away your good feelings for your home.

Make a full claim for your stuff.  Homeowners ins should not go up.... significantly.  It's why you pay for it after all.  (Now you may want to go around and photograph all your valuable possessions with a description and cost on each photo.)

I do not like dogs in my house, but two sheps, dobys, rotweillers, pits, etc (to keep each other company) may be your best solution to a prevent a repeat performance.  They cost time, work, money and freedom to own.

I like the idea of a camera system, multiple cameras with one very visible (say out on the driveway where it will absolutely pick up all license plates, cars and occupants) another very hidden (say inside the house to get the faces), motion sensors, and copied to a computer hard drive.  The trick is to have the computer hard drive beyond their destructive reach in your absence.  I have a refrigerator size gun safe I could not live without (for guns, other valuables, and documents).

Personally, I like what the Turks did during the Korean War;  they killed (and gutted) looters and hung up the bodies around their compound as a warning to others.  

[Titan]

Jeff, get an alarm system installed! Several folks have already talked about that but set aside your feelings of not having a phone line or that it wouldn't do any good and spend the bucks to get a professional to install a good system. Really loud sirens in the attic and inside the house make a lot of difference to thieves when they set 'em off. The sirens are the most important part of a home alarm system. Systems today can use the cellular phone system for off premises monitoring. But keep in mind that there's no way a burglar knows whether the system is reporting off premises or not. I've installed many systems that were "local" only... no monitoring.

I spent 25 years in law enforcement and I can't tell you how many break-ins I've dealt with. I also owned and operated a burglar/fire alarm company for 6 years and can't tell you how many times I dealt with folks after a break-in when they had us install systems for them.

It doesn't make any sense to not have a home protected with a security system! My home is well protected. My stand-alone garage is just as well protected and I make darn sure my vehicles are parked inside it every night. I also have a small building that my wife uses for an office behind our house and guess what... well protected. The three buildings have their own systems and are tied into a central monitoring system.

It's completely impossible for the police to protect everybody's home! Every person needs to make sure they protect themselves.

Over the years I learned that most folks never think about having alarms systems... until they suffer a break-in. Then it becomes top priority. I've seen people spend huge amounts of money on building houses with fancy furnishings and tell me that an alarm system was too expensive.

You're going through a horrible experience and I sympathize with you. But, as I've witnessed many times, people get over it in time. But go buy yourself some peace of mind for the future. Get an alarm system.

If you'd like all the free professional advice you can stand just drop me an email and I'll give you a number to call me.

[Kendall]

Ive got a heck of a alarm system,,, Three lil dogs inside and a German Shepard and a Pit in the back yard.  Not only do they alert everyone to suspicious activitys  they will bite to protect im sure.  Dogs arent for everyone but its worth a thought.

[Bigdog]

Hate to hear that.  I Hate A Theif!!!!    Around here when someone breaks in, 50% of the time it will happen again. Happened to a guy I work with. He got robbed, then a lil later on they broke in his home again and stole the guns he replaced with the Insurance $$.  Years ago a friend of mine got robbed,  then the second time they came back they were shot point blank with a shotgun..

Sorry that they walk amoung us...

[Jeff K]

That's a shame... from what you were saying it sounds like they were watching the house. My fathers house was hit 7 times over 2 years. Put in some motion camers inside bird houses around
the outside as well as in the house. My friend has this and it works very well http://10x.com/ the cameras only come on when needed and will record to a VCR or computer... I think they will
also work to a cell phone

You know... I thought about that, but, what happens if they steal the computer?

[Jabba]

I was thinking game camera too.

They have game camera's that e-mail photo's.

Email them to a gmail account.  You can't STEAL that.

I am a proponent of a shotgun for home defense.  Learn her how to run one of them.  A pump action shotgun  is, IMO, the ultimate home defense weapon. 

How about a powered gate?  Or even a remote operated tire barrier.  You know... like a flip up spike strip that you can defeat with a garage door opener when you need to cross it.

All just brainstorming ideas.

Thieves suck, and BOLD thieves are dangerous.

Jabba

[Jeff K]

I was thinking game camera too.

They have game camera's that e-mail photo's.

Email them to a gmail account.  You can't STEAL that.

I am a proponent of a shotgun for home defense.  Learn her how to run one of them.  A pump action shotgun  is, IMO, the ultimate home defense weapon. 

How about a powered gate?  Or even a remote operated tire barrier.  You know... like a flip up spike strip that you can defeat with a garage door opener when you need to cross it.

All just brainstorming ideas.

Thieves suck, and BOLD thieves are dangerous.

Jabba

We share a gravel access with one house that is another half mile down. They have an automatic gate that they and the previous owner of my house have purchased. But they were in process of building a house, and they have to have the double wide home they lived in removed before they get CO. So they wanted to wait until the Mobile home was gone. I talked to them last night, I'm putting that gate up NOW. I'll sleeve a couple of fence posts next to the road so they can pull them up to get the MH through.

[fudgie]

I was thinking game camera too.

They have game camera's that e-mail photo's.

Email them to a gmail account.  You can't STEAL that.

I am a proponent of a shotgun for home defense.  Learn her how to run one of them.  A pump action shotgun  is, IMO, the ultimate home defense weapon. 

How about a powered gate?  Or even a remote operated tire barrier.  You know... like a flip up spike strip that you can defeat with a garage door opener when you need to cross it.

All just brainstorming ideas.

Thieves suck, and BOLD thieves are dangerous.

Jabba

We share a gravel access with one house that is another half mile down. They have an automatic gate that they and the previous owner of my house have purchased. But they were in process of building a house, and they have to have the double wide home they lived in removed before they get CO. So they wanted to wait until the Mobile home was gone. I talked to them last night, I'm putting that gate up NOW. I'll sleeve a couple of fence posts next to the road so they can pull them up to get the MH through.

Carefull with the gate. You dont want to be gone and your house catch fire and FD has to deal with the gate. Fire doubles every min.

[Jeff K]

I was thinking game camera too.

They have game camera's that e-mail photo's.

Email them to a gmail account.  You can't STEAL that.

I am a proponent of a shotgun for home defense.  Learn her how to run one of them.  A pump action shotgun  is, IMO, the ultimate home defense weapon. 

How about a powered gate?  Or even a remote operated tire barrier.  You know... like a flip up spike strip that you can defeat with a garage door opener when you need to cross it.

All just brainstorming ideas.

Thieves suck, and BOLD thieves are dangerous.

Jabba

We share a gravel access with one house that is another half mile down. They have an automatic gate that they and the previous owner of my house have purchased. But they were in process of building a house, and they have to have the double wide home they lived in removed before they get CO. So they wanted to wait until the Mobile home was gone. I talked to them last night, I'm putting that gate up NOW. I'll sleeve a couple of fence posts next to the road so they can pull them up to get the MH through.

Carefull with the gate. You dont want to be gone and your house catch fire and FD has to deal with the gate. Fire doubles every min.

Good point

[fudgie]

I was thinking game camera too.

They have game camera's that e-mail photo's.

Email them to a gmail account.  You can't STEAL that.

I am a proponent of a shotgun for home defense.  Learn her how to run one of them.  A pump action shotgun  is, IMO, the ultimate home defense weapon. 

How about a powered gate?  Or even a remote operated tire barrier.  You know... like a flip up spike strip that you can defeat with a garage door opener when you need to cross it.

All just brainstorming ideas.

Thieves suck, and BOLD thieves are dangerous.

Jabba

We share a gravel access with one house that is another half mile down. They have an automatic gate that they and the previous owner of my house have purchased. But they were in process of building a house, and they have to have the double wide home they lived in removed before they get CO. So they wanted to wait until the Mobile home was gone. I talked to them last night, I'm putting that gate up NOW. I'll sleeve a couple of fence posts next to the road so they can pull them up to get the MH through.

Carefull with the gate. You dont want to be gone and your house catch fire and FD has to deal with the gate. Fire doubles every min.

Good point

Same for a alarm system. Cant tell ya how many doors we have knocked in for fire and medical alarms. Most were false alarms to. I say alarms are worthless. You might be better off getting a ADT alarm sign and place it in the yard. At least is would be visible and maybe a deterant. If theves want in they will no matter what. Nowing your out that far in the boonies they know they have a few min to get some stuff. I say just secure your doors/windows the best you can. Stay visable. 2nd Amendment is your friend.   

[hubcapsc]

There's cameras that can see in the dark, and will upload pictures in real time to the Internet, so perhaps
you'll have their picture even if they steal or shoot your camera, which they probably wouldn't even see
if you hid it well. Some of these things have tons of features and could probably deal with uploading
via a cell service. The ones I'm thinking of don't need a computer, they're stand-alone... check out
this one, you can find it with google: SCNC2607W

If you don't have connectivity, and if they don't see it, hopefully you'd still get their picture off the SD card.

-Mike

[cutter]

Gates only slow us down, won't keep us out!  We can alway deck gun it if we have too!
Get a knox box for the gate and be sure the FD gets a key and or code to get in.
Put in a gate wide enough to let those pumpers and tankers in. I'm sure being out there you don't
have hydrants so like us we have to bring our water to most of the fires.

I do feel your pain, been there done that. They didn't find my guns and it appeared they got spooked. They did come back about a week later but I had moved out by then.

[Chiefy]

Criminals are stupid, not the high tech genius' depicted in movies.  Labels on the doors and windows with a name of a valid alarm company help a lot.  (Think eBay) A loud alarm does help some, even in the sticks.  Think Home Depot.  The object of alarms are not for capturing crooks, it's for getting them the heck out of there.

You may want to consider a strong little safe bolted to the floor, in a hidden area.  Then go to the swap meet and buy a cheapie little safe and put it somewhere where it's not too hard to find.  The bad guys will find the cheapie safe and run like hell.  You may want to put $100.00 and some expired, but important looking paperwork in it, and maybe some cheapie old coins from a coin shop,  just to make the bad guys think that's all you had.  You DON'T want to leave a funny note in it, although many do.

[PharmBoy]

Jeff, I know how it is.  Happened to me about 20 years ago.  All I lost was a pistol and a portable stereo.  Got the pistol back eventually after the Las Vegas PD let it rust in their evidence room for nearly a year.  I have always said that I hope that I'm home if it ever happens again.  I sure hope that you get your stuff back, but it is doubtful that the thieves will ever be brought to justice...JTL

[DIGGER]

sorry to hear about your break in......reminds me of the story of the guy who saw 2 men breaking into his garage.  He called the cops and they said they didn't have anyone available for a couple hrs.  He said ok.         Couple minutes later he called the cops back and said "I just shot the 2 guys who broke into my garage, you need to come get the bodies."      2 minutes later a cop comes flying up to the scene and goes into the garage and finds the 2 men still breaking into things in the garage and arrests them and puts them in the police car.  He turns to the home owner and says "I thought you said you shot them."     the homeowner says "I thought you said you weren't available."

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Jeff,
Any chance they walked in? Maybe thorough the woods? That would explain them only taking what was easy to carry.
My trail camera has LEDs that light up when it takes a pic. If you get one you may need to cover those up with black tape.

[Jeff K]

Jeff,
Any chance they walked in? Maybe thorough the woods? That would explain them only taking what was easy to carry.
My trail camera has LEDs that light up when it takes a pic. If you get one you may need to cover those up with black tape.

We had thought that they walked in from the woods but I found mis matched tire tracks in the sand at the end of my concrete driveway. It looked like small car tires, and the treads were all different.
And we found a couple pieces of jewelry laying in the driveway.

[Chiefy]

Are the police going to check the jewelery for prints?

Like private industry, local governments have been hard hit by the (lack of) economy.  Some towns are running 1960's manpower level in law enforcement.

[Jess from VA]

Jeff, I get notified of Midway USA product sales, and this seemed like a camera you might be interested in for a good sale price. 

(I don't know jack about these things)

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=915649&eblastid=922201013&custnum=102823357&utm_source=BIGimage&utm_medium=eblast922201013

[Jeff K]

Are the police going to check the jewelery for prints?

Like private industry, local governments have been hard hit by the (lack of) economy.  Some towns are running 1960's manpower level in law enforcement.

Just a couple of earrings, nothing to print. They did get prints off of the door though.