Now and later

It has happened again. After a string of unusually bold residential burglaries near 84th and Holdrege Street ten days ago, we were hit again—hard—yesterday by the same M.O.. We are now up to 28 burglaries or attempted burglaries overnight from the 17th to the 18th in which the theives entered (or attempted to enter) through the side or back walk-in door to the garage, and from there into the house while the residents slept. The burglars don’t penetrate very far—they generally have grabbed a nearby purse and split.

It just boggles my mind that none of the victims (or their dogs) have been awakened. Although certainly not unknown, this isn’t a particularly common burglary method. Burglars generally avoid occupied residences scrupulously. You never know when you’ll encounter a light sleeper with a 12-gauge and a bad temper—or a Dalmatian with the same. Although the walk-in garage door is a common entry point, you’re normally investigating a daytime or weekend burglary that occurred while the occupants were away.

The problem we now have is that the burglar(s) have succeeded in a pretty big way, which will not only encourage them to continue, but also inspire other burglars to pick up this method. I need everyone with an attached garage and a walk-in door to do two things: one now, and one later. Now, start locking the passage door between your garage and the house—religiously. Later, stimulate the economy: visit the home improvement store this weekend, buy the baddest deadbolt lock you can stand to fork out the cash for, and put that Makita and Rotozip to work for a change. Look over the door frame and jamb, too. You want to beef that baby up, so that a burglar would need more time, and make more noise. They don’t like that at all, and will move on. The last thing you’d want in this type of crime is to rouse the homeowners.

The security of that walk-in door needs to be at least as good as your front door—actually, better, since it’s more vulnerable due to concealment. These doors (are often pathetic: weak jambs, with cheap key-in-knob locks. A screwdriver is all it took.

The two neighborhoods hit yesterday were around Stonebridge, near Wilderness Ridge Rd. and Yankee Hill Rd., and Cripple Creek, near S. 44th and Elkridge. The later is my neighborhood. There are several police officers, troopers, and deputies who live in both of these areas. As you might be able to tell from the time I write my blog posts, I’m a light sleeper.