Neighbors House Robbed Today

[theGinsue]

The neighbor who lives right in front of me called me over about 2 hours ago to clear their home. This is the family that the husband died this past summer & I've tried to keep a close eye on their home for them.

They came home and found a couple of upper kitchen cabinet doors open and the mother & daughters jewelry boxes as well as the sister-in-laws jewelry box (she lives in the basement) were strewn all over their bedroom floors with some jewelry missing. As far as they can tell, nothing else was stolen - no DVD's, games, electronics, etc. I'm guessing the crook took something they could carry without drawing attention and looked for drugs as well.

They said all doors were locked (including garage door). They worried that the college-aged son forgot to lock the front door when he left this morning and thought that's how the criminal got in. The sister-in-law came home for a minute to grab something and found the kitchen cabinet doors open. She got what she needed & left, ensuring she locked the door as she left. But, as I said, when the sister-in-law and the rest of the family came home a couple of hours later, the kitchen cabinet doors were open again. This probably means that the crook was still in the home when the sister-in-law came home earlier.

Because all of the doors were locked they were concerned the crook was still there so they had me come over & clear it. While checking out the basement I found one of the windows shattered - glass both inside & out. 2+ hours later and we're still waiting for the police to come by so I can put some plywood in to cover the broken window.

...I think they just pulled up.

ETA: Nope, that wasn't the police. It's now been 4+ hours since the police were called and they're a no show. Must have some really important stuff going on tonight to drag this on this long. They told the homeowner not to touch anything until they got there. Well 1/2 hr ago I finally boarded up the window for them since they're falling asleep, the cold is coming into the home and it's supposed to snow tonight/tomorrow morning.

[GilpinGuy]

Scumbags. Scary that the thief was still there when the sisten in law came home.

[Mazin]

Hate thieves with a passion!

So first question that comes to mind is what where you carrying and did you throw on the vest

[TheGrey]

How kind of you to do that for them! What an awful ordeal.

They'll have to consider in investing in some sort of video surveillance.

How odd, not to have anything taken.

[ray1970]

Not judging you, but I would have just had them wait at my place until the police arrived. Clearing someone else's place when there could possibly be bad guys inside sounds like a bad idea to me.

Glad everyone (including you) is safe.

[ChunkyMonkey]

2 hours?!?! Holy cow.. Be safe, ginsue

[OtterbatHellcat]

Damn !

That's cool of you to help like that though.

[Irving]

It only took 2 hours because you already cleared the house. If you told them that you hadn't, I bet the response time would have been sooner. I've cleared my house before, and having done it once, I doubt I would again. I can't imagine trying to explain myself if I encountered someone and did something that put me in the position of having to explain anything. Glad everything has worked out so far.

[theGinsue]

Hate thieves with a passion!

So first question that comes to mind is what where you carrying and did you throw on the vest

Colt .45 Defender. No vest this time - but I should have since that's were I keep one of my sets of handcuffs (used to play cop for the USAF, have 2 sets of cuffs)

How kind of you to do that for them! What an awful ordeal.

They'll have to consider in investing in some sort of video surveillance.

How odd, not to have anything taken.

I think it's time for me to get video surveillance too. And add more motion lighting to the exterior. I do have an alarm system though and use it when we're not home and at night when we go to bed. I advised them to clear the view from the insode to the basement windows, but to at least put some sheers up to obstruct the view into the home from the window wells.

I think the reason not more than a little jewelry was stolen was two-fold: 1. He/She/They needed to leave quicker than expected, and 2. The crook(s) could wonder off without drawing much attention like carrying off electronics would have caused. Fairly certain the cabinet thing was looking for pain drugs. Lots of folks keep pain med in their kitchen cabinets instead of bathrooms because of kids.

Not judging you, but I would have just had them wait at my place until the police arrived. Clearing someone else's place when there could possibly be bad guys inside sounds like a bad idea to me.

Glad everyone (including you) is safe.

Agreed, that would have been the best option, but.. When the son called he pretty much just said "Can you come now?" I didn't know what was going on and brought the gun as standard practice. As they were explaining the situation to me I think they realized the same time ai did that someone might still be in the home. They didn't seemed inclined to leave (their survival instincts aren't very good), so I cleared with the son behind me. Looks like I've got some more work at educating them to do.

It only took 2 hours because you already cleared the house. If you told them that you hadn't, I bet the response time would have been sooner. I've cleared my house before, and having done it once, I doubt I would again. I can't imagine trying to explain myself if I encountered someone and did something that put me in the position of having to explain anything. Glad everything has worked out so far.

I updated my first post. It's been 4+ hours and still no police (the car I saw parked in the dark on the side street - left before I could get outside to check them out - thought it might be the police but wasn't). They had called the police just before they called me so at the time of the dall, the BG might still have been in the home as far as the police knew.

In talking with the son while I boarded up the window it looks like the crook came in around 7PM tonight. Pretty ballsy time to pull a stunt like this.

I think I've convinced them to invest in lockable grates for the window wells - something that can be opened from inside the well in case they have to evac from there.

[Irving]

In talking with the son while I boarded up the window it looks like the crook came in around 7PM tonight. Pretty ballsy time to pull a stunt like this.

Agreed. Something similar happened to some family the other day, right during the middle of the day. Guy was whacked out on drugs or something.