Posted: 9/17/2012 11:34:11 AM EDT
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Cliff notes: Bad guy Steals bug zapper and old broken pool cleaning pole Attempts to kick in side door to garage - Fail Neighbor gets plate # Rock at side of house 8 hours later House casings on 2 neighbors a few days later Full Version: Last week I get home and the neighbor tells me to check in on my garage and backyard. He said a car had parked out front, a guy knocked on my side door, then after a few minutes walked into my backyard. The backyard is 3/4 of the way fenced in, so you are pretty much forced to walk up the driveway to get to it the easy way. A few minutes later, neighbor sees guy walking back with a pool cleaning pole and a black garbage bag that had something in it. He yells out to ask the dude what he's doing and gets a BS story back. No, there was no pool party this time..... Neighbor was about to call police but the thief drove away. He did get a plate #. I look around my backyard (making sure house wasn't touched first) and see my $50 bug zapper and an old broken pool cleaning pole missing. I also see a big boot print on my side door to the detached garage. Now that door to the garage has one of these + 3 1/2 inch screws:  A piece of scrap wood that was laying on the wall next to the door (inside) got knocked over so I could tell the door took a few good licks, but it didn't budge. No cracks or door damage either. Police come, take a report, yada yada. They say since there was no damage to the door, they aren't going to charge attempt burglary, just theft. Damn. They trace the license plate and it comes back to a female, and my neighbor witnessed a male doing the thievery. They said if they can track him down, he'll be issued a ticket for theft. Later that night, I have to run to the store. Not more than 20 minutes later, my cell phone alerts that my alarm is going off. I race home and find all windows and doors intact. Alarm said master bedroom glass break. I look at the windows and they are intact, but I do see a softball sized piece on concrete laying on the ground about 4 feet from the outside wall. It seems it had hit about 2 inches from the window, slightly damaging the siding. I guess it was enough vibration to set the alarm off. Again, police come out, and asked if I've pissed anyone off lately. Nope. Well, maybe the guy who hopefully jacked up his knee or ankle trying to kick in the door to the garage. Another quick report and they say they'll increase patrols. FML. I loved that bug zapper! It has killed many a mosquitoes and annoying bugs. And now some thief will be bugless :( Fast forward to two days later, I'm doing yard work in the backyard. I see a white SUV drive down the street, then go into reverse to the next door neighbor. Guy goes and rings the door bell, then leaves. SUV drives around the block, and then parks in front the house two houses down. Same guy rings the doorbell, then proceeds to hold a cellphone up to the window and appears to be taking video. Of course, I'm on the line with non-emergency dispatch reporting the suspicious activity. I was walking to get a vantage point to get a plate #, but by the time I got around the fence, they had drive off. Damn. So let's just say it's one notch short of defcon 5 around here. Going to work from home for a few days. Fuckers. For sale sign already up, I was planning to move anyways. On the bright side, I'm very proud of the door beefing up I did a long time ago, before I ever had any problems. That door jamb armor things really work. I take it they saw alarm stickers on the house, and decided to try the detached garage. Little do they know it's well covered too, if you can only get in :) |
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I do want to point a wireless webcam out the front window, pointing towards the driveway. Something decent on resolution but not too too pricey. |
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Glad to hear those beefy strike plates helped. I upgraded all of my exterior doors with bigger strike plates and longer screws. The screws, including the ones holding in the hinges, were little 1" and 1 1/2" coarse thread.
Makes me want to add an additional glassbreak sensor and consider a camera setup with DVR. |
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DEFCON 5 - Lowest state of readiness Normal readiness DEFCON 4 - Increased intelligence watch and strengthened security measures Above normal readiness DEFCON 3 - Increase in force readiness above that required for normal readiness Medium readiness DEFCON 2 - Next step to nuclear war War readiness DEFCON 1 - Nuclear war is imminent Maximum readiness |
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Quoted: Later that night, I have to run to the store. Not more than 20 minutes later, my cell phone alerts that my alarm is going off. I think I need this feature. Details? Nextalarm. You can configure SMS alerts to go to whatever phone you like. The panel supports this too, but nextalarm lets you gets arms/disarms/alarms. Pretty nifty. And yeah, I had my defcon levels reversed  The glassbreak sensors are definitely nice since they can cover a whole room of windows. Just make sure no heavy curtains are covering them up. |
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Quoted: It's almost like I'm reading MSNBC with your elaborate description of the perp Neighbor said he looked like a big black football player, but I didn't witness anything so no description for me to give. The boot print on the door looked like a size 14 though. |
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Quoted: If you got hit 20 minutes after leaving home, "they" are watching you. Have somebody drive your car while you wait at home. Yeah, 2 hours the first time, 20 minutes the second time. So far, I'm parking the truck in the garage that normally is left in the driveway due to other vehicles. Making the house look unoccupied. Speaking of which, need to get some good binoculars, old ones are done and damn if my eyesight needs some upgrades. |
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Quoted: I have that exact same strike plate, good to hear that it held up. Sorry to hear about the bug zapper, hopefully he will electrocute himself, and thanks for the field test. Yeah I'm extremely pleased it held up. Like I said, it was a big dude that tried kicking it in. I could tell it took some good whacks from the fact some pieces of spare wood propped on the inside wall got knocked over. |
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Quoted:
Quoted: If you got hit 20 minutes after leaving home, "they" are watching you.
Have somebody drive your car while you wait at home. Yeah, 2 hours the first time, 20 minutes the second time. So far, I'm parking the truck in the garage that normally is left in the driveway due to other vehicles. Making the house look unoccupied. Speaking of which, need to get some good binoculars, old ones are done and damn if my eyesight needs some upgrades. A scope works just as well. 
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Quoted: Where about are you in the state? Also, where did you find those strike plates? Our front and back doors need to be replaced, and something similar has been on my mind to install while we're working on it. SE WI / Milwaukee area. As for the plates, home depot. You can by the 6 screw one like I used on the garage (they sell those in store too), or you could even get the much longer (and more expensive) version online. search for strike plate at their site. |