Someone broke into my home last night..... (Des Moines, West Des Moines: insurance, crime)

[eagetal96]

I live in a townhome is West Des Moines, I am somewhat new to the area, got here last fall. Yesterday I took a trip up to Rochester, Mn to visit a close friend who is in the hospital, I came back today to find that both locks on my front door are completely destroyed and the door cracked open. Now for the strange part....nothing is missing inside my house. All electronics are here...I can't find anything missing at all. I am guessing they got spooked or something. Part of me wishes I was home when they attemped to come in, and part of me is happy my family and I were gone. If this ever happens again while I am home, you will see me on the news! This whole situation just boggles my mind, I would really like to know what the hell is going on, but I will probably never know. End rant.....

[mofford]

Wow, that's very strange indeed. You would think once they got inside not much would scare them off. If someone saw them doing it then shurley the cops would of been called. Must of been some kids, does it look like they used special tools to break the locks, or just a hammer & crowbar ? I think real burglars usually go for the windows, not much you can do but file a report, talk to the neighbors, beef up security, look over your enemies list, mind probe the children, ect.

[eagetal96]

Just talked to a neighbor, said he saw two older men outside during the daylight wearing baseball caps driving a multi colored pickup, he said they were looking in the front door and such but he just assumed they were maintenace guys.

[mofford]

Burglary is always going to be prevalent in WDM/subs because that's where a pro burglar would go to get the best loot. These guys sound like burglars in training, working in broad daylight and busting up the door like that. And hitting a townhouse instead of a big McMansion, jeez what of couple of twinks.

Oh well, just be thankful you still have your stuff. You should report what your neighbor saw.

[ehenningsen]

And I'll bet that the people of Iowa are to blame, right?

LOL.. just kidding, but I wouldn't doubt somebody coming in with a rant talking about how the people of Iowa are the reason for the burglary..

[Go Ne]

Some people do that just to mess with people sometimes.

[WyoNewk]

Wow! That really makes you feel violated, doesn't it! We had someone enter our garage last summer (back door was unlocked) and make off with a case of beer from the refrigerator. Must have been kids, as I have loads of power tools out there that weren't touched. They just wanted the beer, but it still made me feel spooky.

[QuadCityImages]

I'd be most concerned about identity theft.

[eagetal96]

I understand that this could have happened anywhere. I really enjoy DSM and this will not change my opinion of the area at all. I am fortunate because this situation could be alot worse, I just worry about my family when I am not home. I have new locks now and I am going to inquire about getting ADT or Brinks. No good sleep for me in the near future.

[webdogwebdog]

They probally got spooked off , burglars ussually come back especially if they're successful the first time , its not uncommon for them to hit the same place multiple times , even , 4 ,5 times , they get comfortable because they've been before !
They break in , you put a dead bolt on , they break in again you put alarm , they break in to your garage you put a deadbolt on your garage they'll go through the window the next time , what ever you do they'll try to go around or through ,
If they broke the weak door lock the first time and then you increased security they know you put your gaurd down after installing a much stronger lock because they know your relying on that lock to protect you after you increased security !
The only thing they care about is if your home or not and what they think you have and a fairly easy entry point .
The only thing you can do is make it harder for them to gain entry and that also means that they'll have to make more noise which they dont like .
If you have a solid door with a solid lock there not gonna want to make that much noise so they'll head for the windows , they could easily break a window reach in and unlock it so you need to make it so the window wont open even after the lock is unlocked , screws or nails would work good but you must keep them hidden from view from the outside of the house , you want them to think "i dont know " whats keeping the window from opening and they aint gonna want to stick around and figure it out ,
The harder or longer it takes them benifits you, one thing like this can really frustrate a burglar but when you have put multiple obstacles like this it will really work against them to the point that they will walk away and at least they left a sign that they were there ( the broken window ).
Put away your valubles , especially the smaller exspensive things and get insurance .
Make it harder for them any way you can , leave outdoor lights on , trim the bushes around your house so they dont have cover ,put things around your house that trigger alot of noise when you step on it , put things in front of your windows that make it a hassle to crawl through , You could tape strange looking things to your windows that may make them believe that its possible that you have a alarm , like some wires leading to a tiny plastic box , the thief will be thinking i dont know if i want to mess with this "i dont know " what it is?
Dont make it obvious that nobodys home , leave a radio on to make it sound like someones there , you want them to think "i dont know " if someones home or not , dont leave your curtains open where they can see something they like , make them think "i dont know " what they have inside.
On some of your big valubles like your tv or radio you could take a white paint marker and paint your name on the back in big letters , and on everything at least ingrave your name , if they do go in they'll keep running in to your name on the back of things it would make them think "i dont know " what all has there name and what does'nt or if this person is this prepared what else have they done to protect themselves that "i dont know " about?
On some stuff dont even put your name with the paint marker but just put a small dot or something else , put a letter X , it does'nt matter , all that matters is you keep them wondering and confused! Make them keep thinking "i dont know " the more there trying to figure things out the more time there losing .
You want to take there time away from them and there ability to accomplish things quietly,
They dont want to take alot of time and they dont want to make noise !
Have alot of unknowns , what that means is things that would make the theive answer "i dont know" for example : if theres a car and they cant see the valubles they think " i dont know" if any things in there
If you have a sticker on the window that says you have a alarm the thief thinks that you could have an alarm , the thief thinks "i dont know" if they have a alarm or not!
Some people put alarms in there car with flashing light on the inside that shows you have a alarm to scare them away , you dont want that , you want to keep them guessing make them think "i dont know" if they have a alarm , if they knew you had a alarm then they can make a plan to bypass it !
I had a car one time and i had the alarm setup so that it was really quiet when it was tripped , a shady guy i worked with tripped it trying to get in , he was confused and did'nt know why it was so quiet and when he came in he asked me if i knew my alarm was going off and i told him yea i know but in my head i was thinking no i did'nt but i do know !
Know i have a car alarm that will actually will page me when tripped.
Put a big dog bowl on your porch , They dont know if you have a big dog or not! Put multple shoes on your porch to make them think alot of people are there which would leave them to believe its more likely for someone to be home!
They want to make a plan and follow it , if they know everything its easy for them .
Another thing some people go buy a motion detecter that they put outside there house , a light comes on when someone passes by it , thats ok but theives have gotten use to them , that is when they first came out it may have scared them off because they thought someone was home and turned the light on but now they know its just a motion detecter turning on the light so they just go around it or wear heavy cloths so it does'nt pick up there body heat!
You can go buy motion detecter like this and take one of the light bulbs out or both and instead of screwing in a light bulb you screw a little thing in that you get from home depot that lets you plug a extension cord in , you could run the extension cord to by your bed and then plug your clock radio in so whenever the motion detecter light is triggered it sends power through the extension cord and powers the radio or whatever you have plugged in to wake you up or you could have a stereo plugged in so when they trip it your tape player starts playing a tape of a dog barking . very cheap like $10
Make sure you make it hard for them to get in , at night time when your sleeping its easy because all you have to do is lock your windows and doors good , there not gonna break windows and doors at night , that would make to much noise! Plus its very unlikely that they would try it when they knew you were home .

Its probally best to walk around your car and house during the daytime and then during the night as if you were a thief to get a idea were your weak points are and then cover them up or fix them , you might find it would'nt be that hard for you to gain entry , what ever you find set it up so its much harder to gain entry especially without neighbors seeing you
and much harder to get in without making alot of noise.
You can GOOGLE (crime report and your city ) and it will give you a crime map of all the different crimes and were they were commited and it will give you a idea whats going on in your neighborhood .
You'll probally find that it is'nt that bad but mayby you'll find that there's a burglar working in your area and by following the map you'd know what they been up to !