All of the electronics were gone.
Robert Walker and family were returning to their Rolling Hills home to get ready for a trip out of town. The burglary of their house was immediately evident.
“I walked in and all my computers and electronics and everything was gone,” Walker says.
Stolen in the burglary were: an Apple iPod, Walker’s two work laptop computers, two briefcases, a video recorder, digital camera and a passport, all valued at more than $7,000. The crime is especially upsetting because of the lost work items, as well the camera and recorder, which still had photos and video of Walker’s sons.
“I was more ticked off than anything,” Walker says of his initial reaction to the break-in.
Burglars cut through a lock on the home’s back gate and then entered the garage and began pilfering from the home. Walker says he accidentally left the garage door open, and the thieves were able to enter the home once the gate lock had been cut.
Despite the lock being cut at the Walker home, Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Geoffrey Pettay of the Northeast Patrol Division says keeping gates locked is a major deterrent to crime.
“Any good pad or combination lock will work on entrances,” he says. “We all have to remember to use the locks and double-check them when leaving the property.”
Many burglars are very adept at getting in and getting out quickly, Pettay says. He urges residents to keep close watch on their own neighborhoods, looking for people that look out of place.
“Depending on the items being taken from the residence, large or small items, a burglar can take several minutes inside the residence, and if the burglar sees no activity in the surrounding area, he can take a while inside,” Pettay says. “The best thing for area residents to watch for is to look for suspicious individuals either walking or driving around the neighborhood. Residents should know their neighbors and look out for each other and each other’s property.”
