Someone Tried to Break In!

Some jerk tried to break into my house today in the middle of the day. It was lunchtime and I had left to do my pet sitting when they used items from my FRONT porch to break a window on the back of my house. Thankfully, my deaf 14 year old dog isn't so deaf she can't hear glass breaking and she stopped them from coming in. Because I slammed my finger in the car door, nearly breaking it, I'd called my husband to come get me. I thought I needed to go to the doctor but once I was sure that there wasn't anything that could be done, I opted to come home for ice and meds. I nearly passed out when it happened and didn't think I should drive till I got it under control.

Anyway, because of that, I got home early and with him so it wasn't as shocking as it might have been. My cats were totally freaked out even the calm, assertive ones. It took 15 minutes to find Seti. Thankfully, no one was hurt, nothing was taken and no one got in.

I'm on the warpath, stirring up neighbors and hell bent to stop the rash of break ins that have been going on around here. I'm up for any suggestions anyone wants to offer on how to keep the neighborhood safe. Not all my neighbors have dogs or alarms. We're apparently the 4th or 5th house to be vandalized in two weeks!!!!!! \t

Cacti or razor wire (hidden) under the windows... Or at least that would be a surprise for people that I'd consider.

Organize neighborhood watch, add the signs, have people regularly walk (if safe) or drive the neighborhood. If there's an ally behind the home, have people go down it, too. Otherwise add lights (for at night) or consider adding a security alarm.


And ouch! I did that to my left pointer finger a few years ago. Nothing was broken or dislocated so I didn't bother with a doctor. I did manage to sever a nerve in my finger, though. It took a few months for the full feeling in my finger to return.
All you can really do is ice it and try not to bump it on anything.

Whoa, how scary

Oh poor you!! It hurts like **** to do that.

They were probably watching you for a while if they knew when you would go out to your job each day. Creepy.

I would get a house alarm system. They won't fool with you then when there are so many other houses that don't have them.

I used to put out a beware of the dog sign, even though I didn't have a dog.

My husband has a sign on his workshop "Around here we don't call 911" and there is a picture of a gun below.

Take care. But the above suggestions are great. A watchful neighborhood is the best deterrant.

Originally Posted by farleyv

My husband has a sign on his workshop "Around here we don't call 911" and there is a picture of a gun below.

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Amusing, but not always a good idea. Some homes are broken into because people are looking for weapons to steal.

I try to remember to leave the tv or a radio playing. Sometimes they think someone is home if they can hear something going on inside the house.
What did they use from your front porch to break the window?

A green marble. I have a small planter shaped like a cat. The marbles were its eyes. They fell out in the freakish heat we have here and I put them on the cafe table intending to glue them back in. One is now missing. The jerk.

I guess I should add that our house is 80 years old. The windows are original single pane. Easy enough to break. I never considered that a security risk till now. Doesn't make much difference though as they're custom sized and we can't afford to replace them.

I hope you did call the police and make a report. That can help them to track areas that are being targeted so that they can increase patrols. You might want to call your local PD and put in what we call a 'service request' to have increased patrols in your neighborhood. Increased police presence works wonders for deterring would-be criminals- as does having a good, barking doggie! They do not want attention drawn to themselves.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Amusing, but not always a good idea. Some homes are broken into because people are looking for weapons to steal.

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The sign is in his shop, but that is our mentallity.

Wow. I'm glad nothing was taken. And I hope they find and arrest the idiots behind this. And I'm so thankful your cats were OK!

How incredibly scary! I'm glad that you and your babies are fine though, wow.

A break-in is very disconcerting, for sure!

I've always been concerned about a break-in AND my cats getting out and lost!

Don't care about anything in the house, they can have it, BUT - our cats getting out and lost is something I don't want to experience.

Your puppy deserves a metal!

Originally Posted by esrgirl

I hope you did call the police and make a report.

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Absolutely! That's the first thing my husband did while the dog, who was actually confined to the laundry room as she's old and incontinent, and I went gang busters through the house making sure no one was in it. I'm sure that probably wasn't smart but A) I was armed and B) even if I'd thought about it I still would have done what I did. I'd rather be hurt or worse defending my home and those I love than be ok and live with knowing I did nothing to protect them.

There was a hand print left on the window. An investigator came by today and took fingerprints. It was like watching CSI but less exciting and no one was hot. Well, literally hot yes because it's July in Georgia. Unfortunately, it was smeared and only one small part of the print was useful. I hope that will be enough but it was disappointing to not have that ammo against the would be intruder.

When they couldn't get in our house they robbed a neighbor a block over and stole their things. Then, 2 other houses were hit. 4 in one neighborhood in one afternoon. I was hoping for a lot more from that print.

The dog indeed got treats. We almost never give her people food but maybe once a year we'll take her with us to Dairy Queen and get her a small order of fries while we get Blizzards. We call this dinner. There's a DQ trip in her near future. We were kind of hoping they'd catch the guys first before we left the house with the dog. Until then, she or one of us will be here!

I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you!! Nothing is more important than the safety of you and hubby and all your babies!! A neighborhood crime watch might be helpful. Watching out for each other will discourage any **** from that crap. They were desperate creeps to be bold enough to break in in the middle of the day

Originally Posted by Kailie

I'm glad that you and your babies are fine though

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My first thought too!

That is very disturbing someone tried to break in. I am sure that feeling leaves its traces on you for awhile to come.

Originally Posted by cococat

That is very disturbing someone tried to break in. I am sure that feeling leaves its traces on you for awhile to come.

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Surprisingly, I haven't reacted at all like I expected I might. I've been very calm. Determined is the word. We've had more break ins in the surrounding blocks. Five that I know of in three days. The police seem resigned to it but the neighbors are angry. My husband and I "patrolled" on our bikes today during the times the break ins are occurring looking for anything out of place, ready to snap pictures and phone 911. I saw three of my neighbors doing the same thing. If we all work together, they're going to get caught.

So glad you are ok.

On a related note -- I heard that alarm systems on houses do not work if the telephone line is cut during the burgarly. Wonder if that is true.

Originally Posted by SubconsciousMe

So glad you are ok.

On a related note -- I heard that alarm systems on houses do not work if the telephone line is cut during the burgarly. Wonder if that is true.

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Our alarm has two main resources, electric and communications.

Electric - we have a back-up battery that lasts for over 4 hours
Communications - if the line gets cut, the alarm company gets notification of a disconnect and, depending on your company, will then notify the police, or send by their guard to check things out.

My company even knows when my battery has died - after the electric was out for about 6 hours, the battery ran out, and we got a call.

We did look at installing an alarm. For twice the price, we can get a system that will link to our cell phones. We don't have a house phone anymore. In fact, we just got rid of it. I'm not sure these particular burglars are that sophisticated but I'm sure some are.

You know what the police told us? We should hire private security for the neighborhood. We all live here because we can't afford a neighborhood with private security. There have been about 10 break in in two weeks and they're not even taking fingerprints in the houses that have been robbed. They took prints at mine because I found a handprint and insisted they take it. The investigator just said well it's summer like break ins just go hand in hand with sunburns and cookouts. The neighbors and I have started patrolling the neighborhood ourselves. I only hope these guys are stopped before someone gets hurt.