Poll: Did You or Someone You Know Have the Home Broken Into?

YES. It was a few weeks ago. It was my friend's mom. The men were in there MID DAY (I think around 11am or so). The broke the sliding glass door. Stripped off the pillow cases and took ALLLLLL the jewelry. My friends mom was at work. My friend was going over there to get something. she had been delayed a few times (a good thing). She was trying to get something and she realized her 3yo old was standing in glass. At that point she realized she could still smell the men. She thinks either they just left right before she go there or when she got there they took off. It was such a good thing she was delayed because she could have walked in on them. That could have been so dangerous.

Last Christmas/December, friend had the glass broken out of their back door and someone stole all remaining gifts under the tree (they'd taken some with them) and the big screen TV. They did not have a dog. It's uncertain what time of day. Their renters (who live behind them) noticed it when they came home/went to feed the cat, so it was likely daytime.

They have since replaced the door with one with a smaller panel and not the large glass pane that was on it before and covered up the larger panel on another door. Looks pretty, but it's like a shop window for a thief.

I am an insurance agent. I file claims for burglaries every day. The M.O. around here is they hit in the middle of the day. They kick in the back door and take the big electronics, guns, jewelry and important paperwork, like insurance papers, car titles. Then, the jackasses generally go back again 2 to 3 wks later and break in again. They go back for what they missed the 1st time and because by that time, people have usually replaced thier old stuff with newer nicer stuff. Of course noone ever sees a thing during the robbery, but people have reported that a guy on a bike they had never seen before had been riding up and down the street for a few days before the break in. Things that also get stolen often are the a/c unit and all the lawn equipment in the garage.

Prevention tips : No one that has been burglarized had a monitored alarm system. So get your alarm monitored. Also, if you have a gps, dont program your home address as "home." We have had peoples car get stolen and the thief drove straight to thier house and used thier garage door opener and backed a uhaul up and cleaned them out. Don't program your phone with obvious things like - husband. There was a purse stolen and the thief texted the husband and asked for the bank pin.
Oh, I forgot about Christmas. Don't put expensive items under the tree and have your tree all lit up in the window. It's truly tragic when a home gets broken into and Christmas gets stolen right out from under the tree. AND don't put the boxes for the new big screen, Playstation, and computer at the curb. That just advertises what's in your house to steal. Break the boxes down and drive them to a dumpster.

When I was a kid we had someone break into the house. They came in through a rickety basement door. They were milling around down there and my dad took his shotgun with him while mom called the police. Mom told the police that my dad was going to shoot an intruder, but dad just opened the door that lead from the house to the basement, cocked the shotgun and heard they guy run away. Guess that sound was pretty intimidating :)

Police came quick though. We have found if you really want them to come in a hurry, tell them you are getting ready to shoot an intruder. :)

ETA: We got a dog after that, and no more problems. We have a huge husky, she is the friendliest dog on the planet but she sounds fierce. :)

yup.

We were in Chicago for two weeks. The first week my Grandma was passing away. Then there was a horrible ice storm so we couldn't make it back home and stayed for the week until her funeral on Friday. While down there we had our neighbor taking care of our dog. We left the back door unlocked. ( we lived in a small town that nobody locks any doors ever and keys are left in the ignition at all times) She called us to tell us that someone came in and broke our bedroom door ( we had the laundry room door shut and our bedroom door locked from the living room to confine our dog to only two rooms). She seen our playstation was gone but didn't look around.

When we got home we noticed the broken door jam. The playstation was gone. All of my kids games. Most of our movies. All of the Christmas gifts were unwrapped and the games were taken ( this happened a week before Christmas). They took my engagement ring that broke and waiting to get it fixed. My Great Grandma's wedding and engagement ring ( soldered together). My sweet 16 diamond from my aunt ( it was actually from her ended engagement... worth lots of $$$).

After calling our Barney Fife cop and gave him the list... he took it to the City Counsel and told them that we don't have the money to have that kind of things in our house and the Rich Pr!cks on the council agreed that our social status wasn't that high and we couldn't afford to have them either and actually backed him that it would be a waste of money to look into it farther. I found out about that months later. I was p!ssed!!

I know the town well enough... Its small enough to where everyone knows when someone is out of town... I know the punks in this town... I can even have it narrowed down to about 2 or 3 of them that would have done it and Im not even a cop!

Oh well lesson learned the hard way. Any time we leave now our neighbor has the key and both doors are locked.

The guy across the street from us had his house broken into..twice in one week, by the same teenage kid.

The first time, he was out of town...returned, and found stuff missing/moved around. He called the cops, and they went door to door asking us all if we'd seen anything.

The next morning (no kidding), right after he left for work, my husband was looking out our bedroom window and yelled that someone was climbing over the neighbor's gate, AGAIN. I told him to get his camera w/the long range lens and keep it trained on the front of the house. I ran out into the driveway with my cell phone, hid behind my car, and called the cops. They came with about seven patrol cars and closed off our neighborhood (my kids, looking out the window, were thrilled by the excitement).

They ended up catching the kid and my husband identified him. He was eighteen, and lived in the next (fairly wealthy) neighborhood over. His parents were in Hawaii at the time. He got in by hopping the side gate (in broad daylight), then prying open a back window. Apparently he was helping himself to the neighbor's rum when the cops showed up!!!

My house, no, thank goodness.

We do have preventative measures and 3 dogs who won't shut up if something is wrong. One thing I LOVE about my dogs is that, when I am home which is often all day with exception of errands, I understand the dog barks... the "I want attention bark" is FAR different than when they see someone walking down the driveway or a bobcat. I know to check things out when I hear that bark.

We do not have an alleyway behind our house as many do in TX. It was a priority for us not to due to safety issues, etc. IF someone comes to my house, they have to walk down my driveway and my entire back is iron fenced plus behind the fence is a heavily wooded area. SO, even if they kicked in the back door and got past the dogs, they still have to go up the driveway to get out and all of my surrounding neighbors are work at home so we see keep a keen eye on what is the norm around here.

That said, we've had 5 breakins in our neighborhood since mid October which is very unusual for our area.

Right now, hubby is in Houston on business and someone broke into the rental car and got his briefcase which has his keys to his Mercedes which is parked at the airport as well as our address, and house keys.That is a little unnerving to me but in reality, I don't think a petty theif is going to fly or drive from Houston to Dallas to try to locate his car or come to our house. Of course some people may be that desparate but because they only took the briefcase and left his overnight bag, I think the briefcase was probably pitched somewhere when they realized they did not have a laptop. I am meeting hubby at airport this afternoon with the spare key and he is going directly to our dealer to get another key and the lost key will be deactivated.

Just be very cautious and don't make yourself look like a victim. The bad people prey on non-suspecting or careless people.

My ex's sister had her home burglarized. They left the windows open in the back figuring they were 10 feet up so safe. The people that broke in looked like landscapers so no one thought it odd them carrying a ladder.

Our neighborhood has never had a break in. We actually know each other and it is apparent to anyone coming in to scout out the neighborhood. Not to say this will continue to protect us since criminals seem to find new ways to be stupid.

We have an alarm and some don't, they will hit the unprotected homes first. My fave bit of advice was put alarm stickers on your house even if you don't have one.

Ok, I was 15, obviously was my parents home.

Back then, we left our house completely unlocked. :)
We had a privacy fence that the driveway went all the way back to on the side of the house, they backed their van almost into the back yard and emptied out the house from the back.

Crazy thing was I had a half day of school that day and my friend and I were fighting about whos house to go to that day. We ended up going to hers thank goodness, because if I would have went home I would have walked in on them.

So, broad daylight, we didnt have a dog. I came home before my parents got home from work and found the house trashed and called 911.

They caught the morons a week later in the act in our same neighborhood. We did get a lot recovered, except for the most important stuff, pictures on the camera, home videos, and they stole some guns from my dad that his late father gave him from WWII.

Sad. :(

From what I have learned, they stalk you for awhile to learn your habits, and when the time is right, they get you. Pretty scary/

I know a few people...recently. It was when they weren't home during the day.

Both for us.

Hubby and I lived in an okay neighborhood a few years ago and went out of the town for the weekend. We had several cars parked in the driveway so we think it was someone who knew we were going to be gone because they showed up on a Saturday and spent the day there (with our detached garage open) taking stuff out and even removed the speakers / subwoofer from my hubby's car. They did not take our TV or computer or my engagement ring...but did take our Playstation, guns, ammo, games, DVDs and CDs. They got in through a kitchen window that hubby and I had forgotten to lock before we left. Oops....

On the street we live on now (out in the country) - 2 homes have been broken into during the day. Neither burglar (probably the same one) was caught but one of the guys came home and caught them in the act but they ran into their car and got away before he could detain them. Not sure how they got in.

Very scary and a horrible feeling of being violated!!!!

our home was broken into on a saturday morning about 11 am.. we were on vacation.. had been gone for a week.. we got home the next day. they tried to break in the door wall on the back of the house but it didnt break when they threw the brick..

They broke out the sidelight window beside the front door. reached in .. opened the front door and came on in.. they opened our garage, backed up their truck and carried our stuff out. - our neighbor saw them carry out our 50 inch TV.. she thought we were getting a new one.

we didnt have a dog or an alarm.

Yes, many times when I was young. Once my moms roommate walked in on them and they ran out the back. Every room had tv's and radios, jewlery, etc in a big pile in the middle of the room so they could just go in and bag it up, we assumed. We had been broken in before and I had a big stick that said "Burglar Stick" written on it, in my young mind thinking I could use it to whack them and protect myself I guess. It was laying over my stuff in the middle of my room. I'm sure they got a good laugh about that. My mom finally had bars put on all the windows. The house backed up to a vacant lot that eventually had apartments built on it. To this day, that is absolutely NOT an option when I buy a home, it MUST have a home behind it and not an alley, greenbelt, lot, park or anything else.

I believe someone tried to.

I live in a weekend home community and most houses are empty during the week.

One night last spring, about 3:00 am, I heard what sounded like someone yanking on the handle of my basement Bilco door. The Bilco door is right outside my bedroom window. I turned on my lights, got up, turned on the outdoor lights and looked around but didn't see anyone. I went back to bed figuring that I was either hearing things or an animal had stepped on the door or something like that.

About 3 weeks later, 4 guys ripped through our whole, usually very quiet neighborhood, stealing items from around 30 unlocked cars (including mine) and 2 or 3 houses. They got into the houses via either unlocked Bilco doors or by smashing basement windows.

I told the cops I was pretty certain someone had "tried" my Bilco doors prior to this incident. Pretty darn scary. Always make sure ALL doors are locked.

This happened to a number of people I know.

I am wondering in what ways did the burglar enter your home?
1. Crowbar used to unsuccessfully pry open garage door below condo.
2. Front door of house unseeable from road.
3. Car left unlocked near road. Burglars were people who were going from place to place stealing things to sell for drug money. They ended up crashing their vehicle off the side of the road.
4. Not a burglar, but a drunk guy who thought he was at a different house entered through side door mistakenly left unlocked at night.

How did they find out this happened to them?
1. Went outside and came back toward door with broken wood.
2. Mess in house and items missing.
3. Owner getting ready to go to work found car stereo missing.
4. Stranger discovered sleeping on the floor in the family room.

Did they have a dog and they came in anyway?
1. No dogs, but someone must have scared them away because burglary stopped - condo development.
2. 4 dogs and 2 cats in the house.
3. Dogs in house a distance away from the car.
4. No dogs.

What time of day was it?
1. Day maybe?
2. Day
3. Night
4. Night

Remedies:
1. Locksmith called - installed grate across garage door window, new doorknob with excellent quality lock, and installed bolt lock that seats deep into door casing or whatever.
2. Added a German shepherd to the mix.
3. I have no idea.
4. Makes sure the doors are locked at night.

When my parents' home was broken into, the thieves kicked down the carport door. They came home to find a strange car parked in their driveway, and two men carrying stuff out of the house in broad daylight.

When mine was broken into, they came in through a window. My daughter and I had gone shopping and she realized while we were gone that she had forgotten her phone. When we got home, she started looking through her room for it, realized that her laptop was gone, and then found a big shoeprint on the windowsill. Also happened in broad daylight.

Neither I nor may parents had dogs at the time we were burglarized. I have dogs now, and they're very protective, but I would rather a thief take what he wanted than harm one of them.

When I was 24, the house I shared with several friends was broken into. We found out later that many houses on our street were burglarized within a few months of each other. I lived in a very nice area of Washington DC in a row house and people didn't know each other well so we hadn't been alerted. Anyway - it was a Monday during the day, and the burglars took a crow bar to our front door and broke the deadbolt right out of the wood door frame. Then they ransacked the house and took everything out through a side window on the first floor that overlooked an alley. We were five young professionals living in a three story row house, and the burglars walked away with televisions, radios, cameras, passports, bicycles, tons of jewelry, and some clothes.

I found out because I came home to a slightly open front door with a broken door frame. No dog. We were amazed that no one saw this happening, but it was a fairly quiet residential street where everyone was gone during the day working.

Also, two of my neighbors have been robbed during the day while at work in the last year. We live in a neighborhood in the country where the houses are set far apart and there are lots of trees so you can't see to the front of anyone's house. Apparently burglars with a van backed right up to each of these houses (couldn't be seen from the road) and spent the day taking whatever they wanted. Both houses had large dogs. In one case, the dogs here hurt by the burglars, in the other they were simply locked in the garage.

I was sharing a house with another person when it was robbed. My room-mate was at his girlfriend’s house that night and left the door to the upstairs unlocked. The main floor of the home was a daycare. They came in figuring that no one lived in the house. They broke the window pane of the back door, it was too far for me to hear. They took anything they could, TV’s microwave etc. They came part way into my room. I know this because my TV was still there in the morning, but my purse was gone along with my car keys. (They were by the door). I also had that nights tips by my checkbook on a stand across the room (they probably didn't see it).
I was very lucky that they didn’t bother with me and they were extremely quiet because I did not wake up (I figure god was watching over me that night). They did take my car and any cash I had in my purse.
It was the worst feeling ever. I worry sometimes now about someone coming in, but not as much as back then.
I was in my early twenties at the time and didn't have too much to take.

My neighbors when I was in highschool.

Dad was away for the weekend... came home to find his wife and children tied up in the closet, where they'd been for 2 days. It was an affluent neighborhod. Bound, gagged, and duct taped is something people always escape in the movies. In real life... it's a lot harder. Esp if they do your arms behind your back at your elbows and wrists. Completely impossible if they then either hogtie your legs, or cuff you to a radiator or pipe. You're not going anywhere. (The kids were 6 & 10. I used to babysit them.)

Myself when I was on vacation. In fact, that's how I ended up back in Seattle. I was living down south, and when I came home to visit family for 2 weeks, someone broke into my condo and took nearly everything, and trashed the place. I was leasing, and it was going to take weeks to fix, so my manager offered me an out on my lease. Then add 6mo on insurance to come through, and my job being contract work at the time, I decided to stay up here for a little bit. I've left periodically, but that 2 week vacation was now 10+ years ago. I met my husband while waiting on my insurance, and ended up "stuck". ;) Oy.

My neighbors were an odd 'targeted' case. Which is RARE. At least 4 men (that's who the wife saw, but traffic cams suggest there may have been more). Cut the alarms while they slept, subdued her and the kids, and took everything. Multimillion dollar waterfront home with millions in artwork, and all the cash & electronics. They were specifically hit, and dad being gone for the weekend was a fluke. OTW it's entirely possible that they wouldn't have been found for several more days. Yes, they had little dogs. After that they got a pair of BIG dogs (mastifs). Someone tried to hit them again (not as well organized) a few years later. They were the *sweetest* dogs, but also the size of a pony. (Mastifs are GREAT dogs). The mom is this teeny tiny asian lady. (She looked like a fairy walking pugs when she'd take the pair of them out for their daily walks). So it was quite a sight to see when the dogs had the teens flat out on the asphalt, standing on them and barking enough the entire street poured out to see, and mom's dancing around laughing. Rockin'.

Myself? No idea. Probably just a crime of opportunity since I was out of town.

I've had an ex pull a stalker thing, and he broke in multiple times -and sometimes stole things- but that was less burglery and more dipshittery.