Apartment Burglary: A Weekend Lost

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In summary, Scorpa's roommate's apartment was broken into and all of their possessions were taken. The worst part is that the thief got to Scorpa's car and stole it.
  • #1
scorpa
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So yeah get a call from my roommate on friday saying I have to get home right now because our apartment has been broken into. Come home to find our patio door had been smashed in, they took all of our computers ( 3), our jewelery, cameras, mp3 players, even some clothes. And the worst part is that they found my spare set of car keys that I had hidden, and they broke into our underground parking garage and stole my car to, and it was a beatiful car, so now I have no transportation at all. And of course my computer had all of my assignments and essays and notes i have spent hours making on it. What a crappy weekend.
 
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  • #2
Umm, is it just me or does this sound like this person knew you pretty?

That's horrible :(

I actually don't know what to say...

hoping for the best
 
  • #3
That's terrible scorpa, did you have renter's insurance? That's something that people just don't think about until it's too late.
 
  • #4
Damn! Sorry to hear that. Before you file the police report if you haven't yet, you and your roommate should try to compose yourselves and think if you had had anybody in your apartment in the last couple of months that you didn't know really well. I'm not saying that this might not have been simply a crime of opportunity, but it sounds like someone might have cased the place and had a fair idea of your schedule. You don't clean all the valuables out of someone's apartment in a short time unless you have made plans. Good luck.
 
  • #5
I am so sorry. I feel terrible for you. What did the cops say? Are there any suspects?
 
  • #6
Scorpa, that's terrible. I've been broken into, and, has my car stolen, but never both at once. You must be in complete shock.
 
  • #7
Scorpa, I am sorry to hear of your misfortunes. Indeed it is a most reprehensible deed. :mad: :grumpy: Grrrrr!

I hope you called to police ASAP, and gave them a full description of things stolen. Maybe one could contact local pawn shops. I wonder if the PC's could be traced if they are connected to the internet, possibly if they interact with the MS website (if XP)?
 
  • #8
Yeah it happened friday night and my roommate called the cops right away, before they got here we went through and made a list of everything we could see that had been stolen. I don't think it way anyone either of use knew because we never have people over here, we usually just go out. Plus, apparently there has been a rash of theft along where I live within the past week, the thieves have been working there way down the street, which would have been nice if the cops had made that fact known but I guess it's to late now anyway. Hopefully insurance will cover everything (and yes we did have it), but I know it will be quite a feat trying to get any money out of them for the car, they will probably try to give 4500 bucks for a car that's worth 10 000, but I'm going to have dad deal with that, they will learn quick not to try to screw him over. But yeah pretty much in shock, it's been a rough weekend. Gotta love the city :(
 
  • #9
scorpa said:
Yeah it happened friday night and my roommate called the cops right away, before they got here we went through and made a list of everything we could see that had been stolen. I don't think it way anyone either of use knew because we never have people over here, we usually just go out. Plus, apparently there has been a rash of theft along where I live within the past week, the thieves have been working there way down the street, which would have been nice if the cops had made that fact known but I guess it's to late now anyway. Hopefully insurance will cover everything (and yes we did have it), but I know it will be quite a feat trying to get any money out of them for the car, they will probably try to give 4500 bucks for a car that's worth 10 000, but I'm going to have dad deal with that, they will learn quick not to try to screw him over. But yeah pretty much in shock, it's been a rough weekend. Gotta love the city :(
I am so glad you had insurance! But, yeah, it's still going to be tough getting them to pay.

I feel so bad for you, being robbed makes you feel violated. It's bad enough to lose possesions, but for someone to break into your home to do it is an awful feeling. I'm just glad that you both were gone and weren't harmed.

{{hugs scorpa}}
 
  • #10
Gang-related? Sounds like an organized ring of some sort. Somebody has to have disposal facilities in place to hit that many victims and profit from it. This might sound a bit weird to the Yanks, but most of that kind of stuff in Calgary and Edmonton seems to be the work of Oriental gangs. (No racism involved in that statement. We don't have stuff like Crips and Bloods, and the bikers don't go small-time. Most gang activity that impacts the public is Vietnamese.)
Very sorry to hear about this, Scorpa. Even more sorry that I don't have the proper contacts in your city to sort it out for you. W's niece and a couple of other relatives are there, though, so I might be able to hook up a solution. No guarantees, though.
 
  • #11
Thanks everybody for the well wishes. And don't worry about anything Danger (but thank you very much!), things are pretty much sorted out now I guess, now it's just waiting for the insurance agencies to open on Monday. I'm not expecting to see any of the stuff again which is to bad, because a lot of it was the kind of stuff you can't really replace. And yeah I don't know about the gang thing, I know the Oriental gangs do a lot of stuff like that, but there is only one set of footprints in the snow outside. I think they just planned to get in and grab a few things until they found my car keys and suddenly found themselves with the ability to take everything and get away quick. Needless to say my midterm this week probably won't go to well, I'm not finding a lot of time to study for it, not to mention the fact that I couldn't not feel less like studying right now.
 
  • #12
Uhh, that really does suck, sorry to hear that. Actually, by reading this I relalize that I live in a great town. The 'worse' thing that happened was that my car got stolen twice, and it was found every time after two or three days, undamaged, only out of gas.
 
  • #13
I'm glad that things are beginning to normalize for you. This might sound a little crazy to you, but try to put the entire incident out of your mind until after your exam. Just do as I do... tell yourself that what's done is done, what will be done is yet to come, and in the meantime there's nothing that you can do about it. It won't be easy, but it might allow you the opportunity to focus on your education and dead-smack that test.
 
  • #14
scorpa said:
Needless to say my midterm this week probably won't go to well, I'm not finding a lot of time to study for it, not to mention the fact that I couldn't not feel less like studying right now.
I know this situation sucks, but you may be able to gain some good from this. I used to try to keep in touch with people taking my courses so we could compare notes, and often I found that the WAY that the notes were taken gave me a little extra insight when compared with mine. Your notes may be on your stolen computer, but certainly, there's relevant stuff in your head, so if you can get classmates to share their notes with you, you may still be able to do really well on the mid-terms.

In college (when a 4-function calculator cost 1/2 a semester's tuition!), when someone was taking a course that I was planning to take, and they made notes in their texts, I usually offered to buy their books, and I sold my texts (with my notes in the margins) for more than the book exchange would ever give me for them. Hopefully, you've got some decent note-takers to help you.
 
  • #15
If you talk with your professors and explain the situation, you may be able to get your mid-terms pushed back to give you time to study
 
  • #16
I have all of the notes from the classes, but I always make notes from the text as well because this class is an arts options and there is always way more in the book that we are expected to know than is actually taught in class, but most people just read the book and don't bother to make extra notes so I am kind of sunk in that respect. And I don't think my prof would push the test back, he is a bit of an ass. I'm just going ot have to study my ass off from now until wednesday.
 
  • #17
Don't study it completely off, or you won't be able to sit on your bike. (And it could be detrimental to your social life. :biggrin: )
 
  • #18
That really sucks! I agree with Office Shredder, talk with your profs about this. Believe it or not, we're not all evil trolls out to get the students. It sounds like a very good reason to get an extension for assignments due and to take make-up exams at a later date.

It doesn't necessarily need to be gangs. Just a couple 2-bit crooks can do a lot in a short time, especially if they know apartments are mostly occupied by students...they know you have computers around and that nobody will notice a strange vehicle in a driveway with the numbers of visitors students have, and they also know the apartments aren't occupied much during the day when everyone is at classes. It really doesn't take long at all for them to really clean out a place.

That especially sucks that your car was stolen too! I guess that's a downside to all the keyless entry systems...they just have to walk around the garage pushing the button until a car beeps back.
 
  • #19
LOL Danger

Moonbear, the building I live in there actually aren't a lot of student and it is right by a main road, very visible. And the building manager is there all day and her office is right next to my apartment so there were lots of people around, whoever broke in took a big chance of getting caught. And I definitely don't think all my profs are unreasonable, most of them I really like and get along with well but this guy likes to make a habit of ridiculing students in front of the class and whatnot so I don't know how far I would get with him.
 
  • #20
Have you ever seen that show, "It takes a thief?" It's some former thief who shows people how vulnerable their properties are to burglary and after he breaks in and shows them how quickly he can get away with a lot of stuff with nobody noticing, they then show how to improve the security of their property. Anyway, one of the things I've heard time and again on that show is "lots of people are home during the day and would call the cops if someone broke in." But, then he'll just back a van up to their garage (sometimes their own vehicle), and nobody notices anything. It just looks like someone is unloading groceries or has a repairman there for something.

Though, if you're right next to the manager's office, either this is someone who has spent a good deal of time casing the place to know when the manager is out, or it's someone living in your own complex who knows the comings and goings of people there and wouldn't catch the manager's notice if s/he was walking around the apartments. Being near the main road really doesn't help, because nobody driving along a busy road is looking to see what anyone is doing along the apartments they pass. Even if they saw someone carrying a computer out, it's not the sort of thing that they're going to stop to watch.

Hopefully they got some good fingerprints and this is someone already or soon to be in the "system" so they can get him/her caught!

Not to make you more paranoid than you probably already are now, but get your landlord to replace the broken door with something much stronger, and be especially vigilant as you replace your stolen belongings. Don't leave the cardboard boxes from computers out for the trash where anyone can see them, and stuff like that. I've heard of cases where the thieves return a second time to steal the new stuff as it gets replaced. Especially if someone was so bold as to rob the apartment right next to the manager's office, I wouldn't put it past them. If you can afford it, you might even ask if the manager will agree to allow you to have a security system installed.
 
  • #21
Let's try another tack. Has there been any inspection or maintenance scheduled for your building that might have allowed someone access to your living quarters with our without the presence of the building manager? It just seems pretty brazen to target an apartment randomly if it is in a highly-visible, well-traveled area with on-site management if the perp has no clear idea that it's a hit with a decent pay-off.

Now, to get a bit scary, do you trust your building manager? She has keys to every apartment, she knows your schedule, and she has the potential to know the location and value of everything in your place, including time to find out where you stash things. I was between projects (technical-service work in pulp mills) in Orange TX and Moss Point MS over a weekend over a decade ago, and decided to spend my down-time in New Orleans. It was Friday afternoon, so I made calls to my office, cleared up my schedule and took care of some other details, then headed down to the French Quarter for music and food. I remembered a detail that I thought important, but hadn't conveyed to my division head, so I went back to my motel and made the call. While I was on the phone, a maid opened the door (without knocking!) and I rushed up to grab her wrist. She started hollering to high heavens about me wanting some towels (I had plenty and had not requested any) and so I pushed past her only to see a security guard ducking around the corner at the end of the balcony. An inside, set-up job that would have netted them over $2000 in high-end photographic equipment (all my own, since I was a specialist and the company did not supply such equipment), a nice laptop (OK, laptops then weren't that nice, but they were way $$$$), and whatever else they could take. I ran down to the lobby and shouted at the manager at the top of my voice that two of his employees had tried to burglarize my room (some people in line left quite abruptly) and told him that I was off to the French Quarter, and that if anyone entered my room over the weekend, his ass was going to be in a sling. No problems after that. For reference, it was the Sunrise Inn closest to the FQ, couple of blocks N and a bit W. If you stay there, talk to the manager and let him know who's going down if your belongings are stolen.

Again, I'm sorry you're going through this, and I hope that you can keep your balance and do well on your exams. I'm rooting for you (however much that helps), and I know your dad will go to the mat with the insurance company to make sure they don't cheat you. That's the insurance companies' biggest money-maker - every uncontested denial or underpayment is 100% pure profit, and it's their go-to game every time. Good luck.

I know that you have to take time to study, but every once in a while, settle back and see if there's anything missing that you haven't yet noticed. When you get time (and a new digital camera), get out all your stuff (even clothes) take pictures of all four walls of every room, burn 'em to a CD and send them home. If there is special stuff, annotate the pictures. I bought my wife a small tiger-maple Sheraton side-chair with expertly carved splats and a cane seat for Christmas several years ago. A good picture can mean the difference between nothing (or perhaps $20) and $500 in an insurance claim.
 
  • #22
I wouldn't think the manager would break a door if s/he had a key, but then again, to deflect blame, maybe.

I would definitely suspect someone nearby...at least another tenant in the same complex. No reason anyone just randomly hitting a place would choose the apartment nearest the manager's office rather than one in the back of the complex away from view unless they were really familiar with the comings and goings of the manager (i.e., hit over a lunch break, or when s/he is busy showing another apartment).

Unless they were just really lucky and hadn't noticed the manager's office was so close and had come in from the main road, figuring hit an apt close to the road...easy in, easy out.
 
  • #23
It definitely wasn't the manager, she has been really great ever since I moved in here and judging by the footprints left in the snow it was a guy who did it. No one has been in the apartment for repairs lately, so I don't think that could be it, besides it was quite a few apartment buildings along the road that have been hit over the week. The cop couldn't get fingerprints off of anything...apparently it is really hard to get them off of wood. The door has been replaced and reinforced so that is good. Good idea about the camera Turbo, don't know how long it will be till I can get another one though, I unfortunately have no income at the moment being a student so I will have to wait until I see insurance money for that.

The thing that gets me the most is the car. Even if they got the spare set of keys they should not have been able to get into a secure underground parking garage. You either need a key to get in from the inside or a garage door opener to get in from the outside. The apartment manager has told the residents over and over again to make sure the doors are firmly locked behind them (they have a habit of not shutting properly on their own so you have to pull them shut) and to make sure that they stop and wait for the garage door to close before they leave so no one can sneak in unnoticed but 90% of the people leave the doors wide open and don't wait for the door to close...and that is why my car is gone. The next person I see leave a door open is getting an earful from me that's for sure.
 
  • #24
Grrr...that's like the kids in dorms who just let anyone follow them in. :grumpy: When I was a student, we used to tell them over and over again that if someone didn't have a key to the building, they didn't belong IN it, yet some people would just hold the door open for anyone. :mad: And, then, they're the first to be surprised when something gets stolen (bikes in one of the basement bike rooms were the big thing...a lot harder to get into the rooms since we were pretty observant of strangers wandering the hallways without a resident escorting them, and would usually escort them right back out).
 
  • #25
Still no word on the car, it's been 4 days now :'( The insurance agency said that I probably don't want the car back anyway because of the shape it will probably come back in, but still I absolutely loved that car. Ugh.
 
  • #26
It's probably already stripped down and being sold as parts. :frown: If they've been hitting a lot of apartments, these are not just joyriding kids; they'll know the only way to get rid of a car without being caught is to sell it as parts.
 
  • #27
They found the car, it is trashed. A moment of silence please :(
 
  • #28
scorpa said:
They found the car, it is trashed. A moment of silence please :(
Oh scorpa, that is horrible. :cry:
 
  • #29
scorpa said:
They found the car, it is trashed. A moment of silence please :(
Sorry for your loss...
 
  • #30
That sucks :( badly. I wish you the best of luck with the insurance company and hopefully things improve.
 
  • #31
you are alive. give thanks. things can always get (much) worse.
 
  • #32
True enough mathwonk, true enough.
 
  • #33
scorpa said:
They found the car, it is trashed. A moment of silence please :(
Your dad will make sure that the insurance company doesn't screw you when they try to total it out for the least possible value. Try to remember of an value-added items that were present when the car was stolen.

Good luck.
 

1. What is the definition of apartment burglary?

Apartment burglary is a type of crime where an individual unlawfully enters an apartment with the intent to steal or commit another crime. This can include breaking into the apartment through a window or door, or using a key or other means to gain access.

2. How common is apartment burglary?

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), there were an estimated 1.2 million burglaries reported in the United States in 2019. Of those, approximately 25% were residential burglaries, which includes apartment burglaries.

3. What are some common methods used by burglars to enter apartments?

Burglars may use a variety of methods to enter apartments, including picking locks, breaking windows, or forcing open doors. They may also use social engineering tactics, such as pretending to be a delivery person or maintenance worker, to gain access.

4. How can I prevent apartment burglary?

There are several steps you can take to prevent apartment burglary, including installing a security system, using deadbolt locks on doors, and keeping windows locked when you are not home. It is also important to be aware of your surroundings and report any suspicious activity to your landlord or the police.

5. What should I do if my apartment is burglarized?

If you believe your apartment has been burglarized, the first thing you should do is call the police. Do not touch anything or enter the apartment until the police have arrived and completed their investigation. It is also important to document any missing items and contact your landlord and insurance company to report the burglary.

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