Burglar in hallway; a close call!

Arequipa

Hi! Last Friday @ 6pm my housemate was walking home from work. The security light was on in front garden & some guy walked by her collar up, shifty.
She went into house, closed door behind her & made cuppa in kitchen. 5 mins later, she heard banging & pushing @ front door. Then a big shove. She walked out & the same guy was standing in our hallway. She said 'what the hell?!' he looked at her, closed door & ran off.
Gardai came out & said there's a lot of opportunistic crime @ moment.

In a few weeks I'll have a 2.5k bike under my stairs. If my housemate wasn't there, we Wud have been cleaned out. Got locks for bedrooms, we're locking door always now(got new lock for front door) also plan on getting an alarm.
Oh yea and putting new bike under household insurance.

2 things;

1) criminal activity is gone through the roof...
2) might actually lock the new bike to a fitting in the house when I'm away- what you think?

Thanks for reading,

Arequipa.

Jnealon

Fitting some extra locks on the front and back doors will help as will putting on your alarm.
From my experience this guy might try this again so be careful

GTDolanator

deffo lock your bike to a fixed point in the house when your out.would you mind disclosing the area so as people can keep a look out for suspicious activity

Cabaal

Locking bedroom doors inside the house is pointless if
1. they are not solid doors and very good locks
2. once they get into your house normal internal doors are worthless as they can kick them in without a worry

Invest in good locks for front and back and alarm is best,. but as suggested lock the bike inside also.

happytramp

I have friend's who's house was robbed last week. A long chat with the responding Gardai revealed common practice among many opportunistic thieves is as follows.

-They look for a house that appears empty.
-They knock on the door and walk away.
-If they hear the door being opened they keep walking, if not they go back
-While standing with their back against the door they kick it lightly with the sole
of their shoe to see if there is a dead bolt lower down.
-If there's none, they take a piece of curved plastic (a section of a coke bottle) and slide it into the space between the door frame and the lock. The plastic snakes itsway around the door frame and pushes the metal wedge of the lock in, which allows them to open the door.

I don't know how true this is, it's just what they we're told. So it would seem that if the house appears to be occupied, has a dead bolt or a visible alarm then a opportunistic thief might walk on. Although clearly the op's burglar was not quite so subtle. Glad nobody was hurt.

Arequipa

Thank u for the replies! I am based in Sutton area! The Gardai were saying they are mostly after cash, wallets,mobile phones-smash & grab. Most burglaries take place between 4.30(just after dark) and 7pm. They generally break into houses when people are out. They don't want the confrontation & court sentences go way up when there are people involved.

This guy might come back, but I doubt it as my housemate got a good look & description of him & gave to Gardai- think he had was hocked when he realized someone was home. If I was in I probably would have chased & even caught him, but probably not worth a screwdriver in the stomach!

Maybe this is the wrong forum to ask for advice on alarms; wireless/wired etc?!

Arequipa.

conradk

The 12 year old son of my next door neighbour had a similar experience last week. A guy knocked on the front door, meanwhile the security light around the back of the house went off. It seems they were double checking that there was nobody home before trying to get in through the back..

I have a few pricey road bikes in my gaff and lock 2 of them together with a Kryptonite New Yorker. One of the frames is in turn locked to the metal support for a radiator. Not a completely unbreakable system but better than keeping them in the garage.
I also reckon an intruder might have so much hassle with the locks that he'd abandon attempts to nick the nice bikes in favour of the junkers I keep unlocked in the same room..

Arequipa

My housemate described the muppet as; twenty something, clean shaven & hair cut & quite well dressed. I think the bedroom locks & bike locks are helpful; when they break in they are rushing; havnt got time to break every lock; they eventually always move on: also they are aware of making noise.
Main thing is to make things really difficult for the ****ards!

Think I'll defo get a fixed lock for the new bike!

A

Bunnyhopper

My dad's advice (retired Garda) is that there's not much point in locking internal doors unless there's someone around to hear them being smashed in - someone who'll actually do something.

If you're going to lock the bikes up in the house then be sure to put the keys well out of sight - same goes for car keys. It sounds obvious but I'm always amazed at the number of people who carefully lock the car and then leave the keys sitting on the hall table.

I've heard stories about people who drop in those fake "charity" collection notices checking front door handles and cars as they do the rounds. That could be at 5 or 6 in the morning.

I also anticipate a huge increase in the number of chancers going door to door seeking to con people. They're at it already, but as soon as date of the election is announced they'll be out in force.

neris

what part of sutton are u in? Grew up there and remember years ago a massive amount of breaks in around our area then nothing major since. My mates dad reglaurly leaves his bike outside their house after his cycle home.

uberwolf

Bunnyhopper wrote: »

. It sounds obvious but I'm always amazed at the number of people who carefully lock the car and then leave the keys sitting on the hall table.

this is Garda advice. If they're in the house for your car, they will come into the room for them. You don't want this.

Nozebleed

i went to lock the garden gate the other night..as i opened the front door i saw a guy across the road walking into every garden and checking the car doors. he must have walked in and out of 20 garden in 5 mins..i was amazed..stupidly i shut the door over and began spying throught the curtain!..i should have ran out and confronted him they scummer. brazen as fu*k. also had a guy appear on the back wall of the garden during the week (12 midday)..when i asked him what he was doing his reply was "im just cleaning the back garden with your neighbour"..but i knew the neighbour wasn't in. so i asked him what neighbour (name)..and he started looking nervous and jumped down off the wall and moved off down the road. basta*d was checking out houses. keep and eye out.

Arequipa

My house is in a terrace so you can hear noise quite easily. Important point is to get friendly & communicate with your neighbors. I told nearly all my neighbors about our visitor. They were all shocked, but very understanding & interested in details; we can hopefully all keep an eye out for suspicious activity!

Problem is in modern estates, lots of people don't talk or know their neighbors; an apartment is broken into & nobody knows,

paddymacsporran

Another trick they use is to throw a glass or bottle onto the path or ther patio at the back, if it smashes the homeowner will go out to see what the fuss is, if no-one comes out they assume the house is empty and rob you..

Scum!!!

mikemac

Bunnyhopper wrote: »

I've heard stories about people who drop in those fake "charity" collection notices checking front door handles and cars as they do the rounds. That could be at 5 or 6 in the morning.

Yes, I'm out by Ballyfermot/Chapelizod direction in Dublin.
The guys delivering the leaflets try my door handle, I've seen it! This is around 5am, I've often up at this hour

Delivering leaflets is nothing more then a scam to try for opportunistic burglary

Outkast_IRE

I find a good dog one of the best defences , have heard my dog go ape**** barking at the back wall few times in the last year during the night , neighbours dont mind the dog doin this with the barking etc cause it leaves them know too that someone is around . She wont bark at the postman but will go mad at leaflet droppers she doesnt seem to trust them at all.

ThisRegard

uberwolf wrote: »

this is Garda advice. If they're in the house for your car, they will come into the room for them. You don't want this.

That's an urban myth isn't it, despite what the guy said. And the burglars in the story are hardly going to converse with the occupier while that person could have rang the gardai. Plus if I was a burglar I'd hardly speak loud enough so people could hear me. But then again I'm not a burglar.

doozerie

Bunnyhopper wrote: »

My dad's advice (retired Garda) is that there's not much point in locking internal doors unless there's someone around to hear them being smashed in - someone who'll actually do something.

If you're going to lock the bikes up in the house then be sure to put the keys well out of sight - same goes for car keys. It sounds obvious but I'm always amazed at the number of people who carefully lock the car and then leave the keys sitting on the hall table.

I was speaking to someone a while back whose view on locking internal doors was also that it's not worth it. Not only did he agree with the above statement that burglars would just smash through them anyway but he also didn't want a burglarly to lead to even greater expense on his part in having to replace the destroyed doors. It was a good point, I thought.

I also agree about the keys above. Our next-door neighbours had keys of their house and keys of at least one of their cars stolen from the pocket of a coat hanging just inside their front door recently. We live in a cul-de-sac and this was a late evening (rather than middle of the night) so a location and time that wouldn't on the face of it seem likely for a robbery, plus the owner of the coat had apparently only just entered the house so the thief must have had a brass neck. They saw the thief and chased him but didn't catch him. They ended up having to remove the wheels from the car whose keys were stolen so that it couldn't be taken overnight and changed the locks the following day. A lot of hassle for them but it could have been worse so they got off relatively lightly. I imagine they've been a lot more careful since then to keep keys out of easy reach of the doorway.

Arequipa

My bro in law, purposely leaves the keys in a locker beside the front door; his attitude is; take the car; just come upstairs near me or my kids; the car is insured....: I think he's right, at least when they're asleep upstairs;when away on holidays you could hide them!

briano

Do you think there is any chance you could get them to take the kids and not the bikes? Priorities here people;)

Bunnyhopper

uberwolf wrote: »

this is Garda advice. If they're in the house for your car, they will come into the room for them. You don't want this.

Good point - and another good reason not to spend a fortune on a car.

I had in mind the fishing rod through the letterbox trick, or just leaving the keys out somewhere obvious when you're not even in the house.

seanybiker

Nozebleed wrote: »

i went to lock the garden gate the other night..as i opened the front door i saw a guy across the road walking into every garden and checking the car doors. he must have walked in and out of 20 garden in 5 mins..i was amazed..stupidly i shut the door over and began spying throught the curtain!..i should have ran out and confronted him they scummer. brazen as fu*k. also had a guy appear on the back wall of the garden during the week (12 midday)..when i asked him what he was doing his reply was "im just cleaning the back garden with your neighbour"..but i knew the neighbour wasn't in. so i asked him what neighbour (name)..and he started looking nervous and jumped down off the wall and moved off down the road. basta*d was checking out houses. keep and eye out.

I presume you told these neighbours about all this and not just hope the chap doesn't come back

kincsem

Do not lock any internal doors. Do not lock any drawers. Fit two mortice locks to each external door, and lock them always. Thieves might go for an easier target.

smacl

Got broken into over Christmas as well, not too much taken and bikes ok, but place left pretty trashed. Since then I've bought and installed a new wireless alarm, outside intruder lights, and am in the process of changing and adding to the locks on the outside doors (even though they got in by jimmying a window). Bikes are currently in the porch, two on the wall, two free standing all locked together, so awkward enough to move.

The Gardai were very good, on the spot in about 10mins, with a couple of lads back the next day looking for evidence. Their advice was that the alarm provides a reasonable deterrent and is worth having. I picked up a mid-range wireless system with 6 number dialler on ebay for about €280, and was surprised how easy it was to install. We've a couple of good neighbours who we can trust with keys, and we've set the alarm system to dial ourselves, immediate neighbours, and near by friends. We're also doing the same for them.

BostonB

What was the alarm?

I don't get the advice about not locking internal doors. It slows them down, which might give you a warning if you are in the house. The longer it takes them, the more chance they'll be disturbed. Which is cheaper, the car or a door? or your life.

mloc123

My car is insured, I leave the key beside the front door. Being woken up with a hammer held over your head or claiming off my insurance... I know which I would prefer.

thenightrider

Hi the main thing is get good locks i was locked out of my old house before and had to kick the door in all it took was one good shove up against the door with my sholder and the door was open i was shocked at how easy it was :eek:

Captain Havoc

I have a hurl close to hand few flakes of that'll sort 'em out, also my chefs knives are in my bedroom (not for protection but to stop my father from destroying them). The bikes are well secure though, 3 of the bikes are locked together with heavy wire to a rack and the rear wheels with a D-lock. The door of the concrete shed has a strong lock also. My cheapy commuter bike is just locked in the shed with a D-lock. My way of thinking is to stop the opportunists. The cars are both Yaris' so hardly worth risking getting arrested or battered for.

smacl

BostonB wrote: »

What was the alarm?

This one. Took a morning to install and test at a basic level, and a bit of mucking about over the next couple of evenings to get the dialer running. I'm sure there's much better out there, but inexpensive and easy to self install were high on my list. The same crowd do cheaper or more expensive versions based on how many sensors you need. My only concern is there's a whack of batteries all in, and I'm guessing we'll get plenty of false alarms as they go low.

Bunnyhopper

Bunnyhopper wrote: »

there's not much point in locking internal doors unless there's someone around to hear them being smashed in - someone who'll actually do something.

BostonB wrote: »

I don't get the advice about not locking internal doors. It slows them down, which might give you a warning if you are in the house.

That was my point - lock them if there's someone to hear them being forced open, otherwise, just close them but don't lock them.

Formosa wrote: »

*SNIP*

I suspect that if you do use it then, whatever the circumstances, you might find yourself having to answer some very awkward questions about smuggling, offensive weapons and an unlicensed firearm.

Arequipa

Think it is about balance; was talking to Gardai after our unwelcome guest; they said in the past you had to essentially be defending yourself against an intruder; however now you can seem to use more 'force' to defend your family & property.

In court, judges generally will decide in favor of a houseowner, unless a burglar is fleeing & you throw another punch to finish him off. Or shoot them in the back; & that farmer in Mayo got away with that.

Think generally it is never worth risking your own or family's life, but sometimes you have to take a stand & refuse to be intimidated!