Someone tried to break into my house!!!

[propita]

So it's one of the few days I go into work--trying to finish the single case I'm working on. Hubby left for work at the same time, locking the deadbolt. Nephew had already left for school, expected back around noon.

I stayed at work because my friend asked me to lunch, but I had a weird feeling..... I texted Nephew; if he was home, was everything locked up or was anything left open. He calls up 30 minutes later: all locked, but the alarm system registered "something"--lights were on that usually weren't.

I called ADT. They said there was an "incident" and I should call the, when I got home. Walking in from the garage, I saw window screens on the ground. Someone broke one of our old windows and tried to get in! And they were stupid!!! They picked the one wndow where it would be next to impossible to get in, owing to the stacked washer/dryer right inside!

But they may have opened the back door! Nephew said the deadbolt was not locked and opening the door would trigger an ear-splitting alarm. Which I guess it did. Despite a broken window, I'm pretty lucky. We have a lot of stuff someone could take--like our big iMac, tvs, etc.

I called ADT and the police (who will come by "some time"). We should have a new window, which was going to go in the basement window, but I guess Hubby and I will be moving the
dryer and replacing the window tomorrow.

Kinda freaky, knowing that someone was almost in here. Makes me nervous.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Yes, you're lucky, but I totally understand that it's still scary. I'm glad for you that the person was as stupid as they sound. Hugs.

 

[Misfit Toy]

I'm glad they didn't get in. I can really understand why that would leave you feeling creepy...

 

[ancientone51]

Glad all is well, relatively speaking.

 

[auntiehill]

We were once broken into and robbed, just before our wedding. He completely trashed the place,too. Very few things were taken--a necklace, a wedding present, hubby's knife---but the door was smashed in and our apartment was torn up pretty badly. The worst part was walking in the back door and stepping into the mess, wondering if someone was still inside. Not a nice feeling. It took days for me to feel at ease again.

I was fairly happy when we moved out of the place and into a house. I'm extremely vigilant about keeping the place the locked up and turning on the alarm.

 

[Goliath]

A friend of mine actually surprised a burglar in his house one time.

He was at home, sleeping late, when the doorbell rang. He decided not to answer, thinking it was the Jehovah's Witnesses or something. But the next thing he heard was the sound of a basement window breaking.

After listening a bit, my friend got out of bed, got his pants on, opened his bedroom door, and found himself face-to-face with a stranger.

Apparently, the intruder was even more surprised than my friend was. The guy actually asked, "Is so-and-so here?"

"No," said my friend. "You're in the wrong house." Then he punched the guy in the face, and chased him out.

In retrospect, my friend was lucky the burglar wasn't armed. I would have locked myself in my bedroom and called the police, myself.

 

[propita]

One of my brothers-in-law stopped by. He took one look at the footprints in the dirt and said, "It's a kid. Vans, size 7."

The cop came by, dusted the window screens that were down. He said this would be called "vandalism" to the window, since that's easiest to prove in court. I asked about breaking and entering, as in breaking the window and sticking his arm in to open it. He said that usually doesn't fly in court as good. Whatever. If it's a stupid (see above for why stupid), maybe we dont have to worry so much.

The cop (very nice guy) is also as afraid of spiders as me. He said that while it is black widow season, we have an unusual number of black widow spiders outside. Just what I need--a lot of spiders and an open window.

 

[Kestra]

I'm glad you're okay and the damage was minor. I'm surprised that you had to contact the alarm company though, and that they didn't contact you first. Unless I read things wrong?

 

[propita]

They were supposed to. I will be talking with them again tomorrow about that. After the window is fixed.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

Happened to my neighbor across the street about 2 weeks ago, someone tried to get in a 5 in the morning, ,his wife called the cops and while they struggled, they were there in 2 min.

Glad not too much was damaged in your case.

 

[FPAlpha]

My best friend got robbed twice.. the second time it happened i heard her cry for the first time ever and it broke my heart. For a long time she didn't feel secure anywhere and it was hard on her.

I'm glad that you didn't have to go through that.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Wow. I'm glad the kid didn't get in and all your stuff is safe. I think the alarm people definitely fell down on the job, though.

 

[Holdfast]

After listening a bit, my friend got out of bed, got his pants on, opened his bedroom door, and found himself face-to-face with a stranger.

Apparently, the intruder was even more surprised than my friend was. The guy actually asked, "Is so-and-so here?"

"No," said my friend. "You're in the wrong house." Then he punched the guy in the face, and chased him out.

I lol'ed.

I've never had my home broken into, thank goodness, and hope that luck continues. But someone tried to break into my dad's place last year. They took a crowbar to the conservatory windows in several places but couldn't do more than dent the frame a little. I suspect they gave up and moved onto an easier target. My dad was a bit spooked and installed some extra security measures afterwards, even though they didn't get in. It's still an invasive act.

 

[Sector 7]

Two years ago this week, our home was broken into. They took big screen TVs, computers, tools, etc. It makes you feel violated. Mom was home at the time, which they knew, and stayed where she could not see them from her hospital bed. Obviously, I no longer leave her home alone.

 

[propita]

Now we're wondering if the small person DID somehow crawl in the window without cutting themselves on the sharp, old window glass, go OVER the washer/dryer or storage rack without knocking anything over, and open the back door for an accomplice--but immediately setting off the alarm instead. The ADT guy suggested this scenario. He also suggested getting some security cameras, but he said to get them from Costco, not ADT.

The possibility of this scenario makes me nervous. But I can't see how someone could break the bottom 2-3 inches of a window and get their arm up over a foot to unlock it and open it--without cutting themselves on the pretty jagged glass. This is 69yo glass, not modern safety glass. There just didn't seem enough room.

So we're gonna upgrade the alarm to include a few glass-break detectors, and Hubby is checking out cameras online, to try to keep people from even trying to break the glass. Funny thing, we live in a REAL quiet neighborhood. While no neighborhood is completely safe, even the ADT guy was surprised by just how quiet the street is. No sound unless someone goes by--of course, this was 3 pm and most people were at work, but still, it's like that pretty much all the time.

How worried do you think I should be? I tend toward caution, but don't want to get all paranoid.

 

[spooky spice]

"No," said my friend. "You're in the wrong house." Then he punched the guy in the face, and chased him out.

Couldn't swear to it, but pretty sure if you did that in the UK, you'd get arrested for it.

We've recently had a law or something [in Ireland] allowing the use of "reasonable force" if you find an intruder in your house. Would an AK47 be considered "reasonable"?

 

[FPAlpha]

How worried do you think I should be? I tend toward caution, but don't want to get all paranoid.

Judging by what you said about your neighborhood it sounds pretty safe and i'd not go overboard and turn your house into Ft. Knox.

I've seen and read about home security a bit and the main goal for any security is to make it too hard for the intruder to get in, i.e. it will take too long or be too noisy. If you can accomplish this you are set.
To achieve this i'd say good door and window frames are a must as are good locks.

An infrared movement detector for each main room covering the entrances wired to a loud alarm should round that off.

A cheap thing anyone can do is not to go off spouting to everyone who you don't even know that you've installed a huge home theater for thousands of dollars or have these priceless art things or any other stuff at home. So basically.. don't be my dad

 

[Paradon]

This is a scary situation...somebody breaking and entering your house.

I hear they laid off a bunch of police on the force due to budget cut because of the economic crisis.

On a side note: my grandfather chase after a bugler once that broke into his house in the middle of the night. Buglers in Thailand are no joke. They'll kill you just like that!

 

[RobertVA]

(snip)
The possibility of this scenario makes me nervous. But I can't see how someone could break the bottom 2-3 inches of a window and get their arm up over a foot to unlock it and open it--without cutting themselves on the pretty jagged glass. This is 69yo glass, not modern safety glass. There just didn't seem enough room.
(snip)

How worried do you think I should be? I tend toward caution, but don't want to get all paranoid.

I don't think safety glass is used anywhere other than automobiles and doors. Modern household windows are often made with multiple layers to reduce heat transfer through the glass (reduces heating and air conditioning costs) but still breaks into sharp pieces. Windows in doors are sometimes made of clear plastics to reduce the hazard to someone who tries to walk through them without realizing there's a barrier.

If the alarm company didn't promptly call the customer and/or the police department when the system was triggered I would consider it a contract breach on the part of the alarm company. I think you should insist on an alarm company representative explaining why you shouldn't switch to another alarm company.

 

[propita]

We've been considering switching. Looking at the scene, someone had to have gotten in-- the deadbolt was locked when we left, and blocked when Nephew got home, implying it was opened from the inside, which began the alarm's countdown.

Alarms don't prevent someone from getting in, and are useless if the police don't come quick. Cameras won't stop someone either, but may dissuade them from trying to IF the thief sees them and does not dismantle them.

We have roses planted in front of many windows and will be adding some to these windows. They can be trained to grow tall. Believe me, the thorns on our roses are killer--you could use a branch to flay the skin off someone--they hurt and really catch on clothes easily. I've gotten tangled up when pruning. At least they'll discourage someone.