06 Aug Want to catch your burglar? Just make him get sleepy
Want to catch your burglar? Just make him get sleepy
Is it an occupational hazard or do all of these hapless burglars suffer from narcolepsy? Whatever the cause, it seems that burglars everywhere are finding it hard to stay awake long enough to make their escape.
The homeowner’s cleaning lady discovered our first sleepy thief. She told deputies that when she arrived at the Sarasota County, Florida home she found the kitchen window open and the cat-napping burglar fast asleep on a bed next to a plastic bag full of plundered jewelry. Deputies reported finding open drawers and other clear signs of burglary. The suspect was so deeply asleep that deputies took several photos of the slumbering burglar before awakening him with the bad news that he was under arrest.
This next case is a little comical and more than a little disturbing. A sleeping homeowner in Santa Ana, California woke up when his leg touched something strange at the foot of his bed. That “strange thing” turned out to be a burglar who had crawled into bed with the man and his wife to catch forty winks before taking off with his stolen loot. The homeowner chased the intruder, whom he recognized from the neighborhood, out of his bed and his house. Later, when he realized that the family’s Sony PlayStation and cell phones were missing, he went to the thief’s house and recovered the stolen property. The burglar reportedly told police that he “must have fallen asleep” while making his getaway. Hopefully, the homeowners have installed ADT now to prevent any more unpleasant surprises in the middle of the night.
A homeowner in the Lady Lake area of Florida returned home to find a thief taking a nap on his couch. It turns out that two men had kicked in his back door early that morning; after “working hard all day” burglarizing the home, one of the men was so tired he sat down and fell asleep and his accomplice neglected to wake him up before taking off with the TV and other items. The tuckered out burglar was caught with approximately $500 worth of the victim’s jewelry stuffed in his pockets. Both men were arrested for burglary and grand theft.
With all of these burglars falling asleep on the job it makes me wonder if we should be trying to put them to sleep with some relaxing music, maybe scent of lavender, etc… to increase the odds of a snooze.
It isn’t only hapless burglars who are falling asleep in strangers’ homes; in Florida, a drunken man broke into an apartment and began rifling through various cupboards and drawers before dozing off. He later explained to police that he was so drunk he thought he was at home. There’s no report on whether or not he found what he was looking for so diligently.
A couple in Newstead, New York had a similar experience; when they woke up they found a strange man catching some shut-eye on their couch. The drunken man explained to police that he was sleeping on his friend’s couch. He was a little off, since his friend’s couch was twenty miles away in Grand Island. You may want to install ADT now, before a drunken stranger mistakes your couch or bed for his!
Shawnee, Oklahoma police say two men suspected in a string of thefts were found napping in a car that contained an eclectic mixture of stolen goods including guitars, stereos and car parts. Their trunk was bulging with so much stolen loot that it was only half closed – which might have been what attracted police officers’ attention to the dozing thieves in the first place!
In this video, a burglar naps in a police car after his capture by a shotgun-wielding homeowner. He apparently had a busy night since several thefts were reported in the neighborhood during the previous twenty-four hours and police found a stolen vehicle nearby stuffed with the missing items. Sounds like that whole neighborhood needs ADT!
And lest you think that humorous burglars are strictly an American phenomenon, check out this story:
A thief in Moscow stole food and money before spying the homeowner’s bottle of vodka. You guessed it – the now drunken erstwhile burglar passed out on the homeowner’s bed where law enforcement officers finally roused him from his drunken stupor and placed him under arrest. We all know that drinking and driving don’t mix and now he knows that booze and burglary don’t mix, either!
Contact us for information on protecting your home from burglars, awake or asleep, with ADT!
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