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Posted on Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 9:45 a.m.

Ann Arbor woman comes home to find suspected burglar carrying bags from her house

By John Counts

When a 34-year-old Ann Arbor woman arrived at her residence in the 1800 block of Chandler Avenue around 11 a.m. Tuesday, she saw a man walking across her lawn carrying two bags that may have contained her property, police said.

The man -- described as a black male, about 25 years old and wearing all black clothing -- fled when he saw the woman pull up, according to Ann Arbor police Sgt. Paul Curtis.

"He noticed her and took off," he said.

When the woman went into her residence, she noticed a laptop and other electronics were missing.

The side door had been forced open. Police continue to investigate.

Anyone with information on the break-ins is encouraged to call the Ann Arbor police anonymous tip line at 734-794-6939 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP (773-2537).


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John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Comments

A2Life

Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 5:20 p.m.

Really need to find out who is buying these stolen goods. Maybe start a random check of local pawn shops and auto parts yards.

andercar

Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 12:22 p.m.

Leave your radio on tuned to 950 AM (all news) and lights on when you leave. Of course, lock up.

Cathy

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 10:20 p.m.

I hate when this kind of story attracts victim-blaming second-guessers. The problem is that Michigan has returned to the days of revolving-door prisons. I'd give dollars to donuts that the perp in this burglary is a repeat offender who has been locked up before.

Jack Campbell

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 7:41 p.m.

Same story different day. When is our local government going to do something to address this crime wave?

Bcar

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 6:23 p.m.

TX has it right... Can shoot to defend property as well as life/limb. These thugs would think twice if they thought they might take a slug for stealing. But I really know how to solve this problem, more $$ for art and librarys, less for police/fire (hey, maybe I should run for mayor or city cncl with those ideas...)

Cathy

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 10:24 p.m.

Criminals know that people are armed, so they try hard to avoid homeowners. That's not hard to do these days.

music to my ear

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 6:07 p.m.

So my take on all these robberies,we all at any time could be a target.peoples go get a job,OH I bet they can not because of drug test hey, their choice, but at every ones expense. its getting old. and now I am tired of this. what do we have to do to protect our homes while we are away hiring a house sitter.may be cheaper than replacing laptops T.V. etc. if we have no insurance.and most do not.

Macabre Sunset

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 5:40 p.m.

I wouldn't use ADT to clean up after a dog. Their aggressive telemarketing has gotten them into a lot of trouble. They spend all their time and money marketing, not enough time and money protecting. The only thing we can do is elect judges who are tougher on crime. Right now, in the county, criminals are being released faster than the police can arrest them. Criminals know that as long as they're not caught in your house with a gun, they won't do any time. So they're more and more confident of their choice of a life of crime.

Opinionated

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 5 p.m.

Double dead bolts are not recommended because you can be trapped inside during a fire if the key is not left in. I wouldn't recommend ADT either. Our neighbors alarm kept going off while he was on vacation keeping us up so my husband went over and unhooked the electrical wire powering it. It took him less than 5 minutes to disable it. A regular deadbolt on each door is a good idea because it makes it much more difficult to break in. Having a dog is also a deterrent but I have heard of robbers working in pairs where one taps on the window outside a bedroom to get the dogs to run to it then the second individual shuts the door behind them. If someone wants to get in they are coming in. The best you can hope for is to make it a little harder for them.

jcj

Tue, Oct 16, 2012 : 12:05 a.m.

There are very reasonable alarm systems that can be installed by almost anyone. I find that in most cases if you live in the country, it is not worth having the system monitored. Put a loud external alarm with motion detectors in the house and if you have homes nearby it will probably be enough to send them packing .

Youwhine

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 7:25 p.m.

I will agree with you on one thing... The yard placards are probably the most effective part of the whole alarm.

rs

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 7:10 p.m.

I don't work for them, just a happy customer. I've only had the alarm go off once; the wind blew a tree over and a limb knocked out a bedroom window while I was running errands. ADT called me and said the alarm was going off and asked if they should send police. Not knowing why it would be going off, I said yes. I was 10 minutes from home and a Washtenaw deputy was already standing in my yard when I pulled up. I was actually quite impressed by the response time in my case. Plus alarm company yard placards tend to make a good deterrent to would-be burglars.

Youwhine

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 6:58 p.m.

Sounds like maybe rs works for an alarm company. While they do often have backup plans, they are overall pretty useless. It would be irresponsible for me to describe how, but they CAN be easily disabled or prevented from sending an alarm to the monitoring company. Also, many people do not want the Alarm company to contact police, they simply want the alarm co to call them or a neighbor or another keyholderwho who will come and check on whether the alarm is valid. This leads in delays as well as the alarms often being ignored. Another issue is the delay built into the system. The alarm is tripped and you usually have a minute or more to disable it. If the code is not entered,the company's then notified. The company then has to look up the contact info for the alarm and start making phone calls. Often they will try calling the residence or the owner before calling police. The next step is to determine what jurisdiction the alarm is in and then contact the police in that jurisdiction. And guess what... Since alarms are so common and usually false, the police aren't exactly in a huge hurry to respond to them. This all leaves plenty of timeto break into a house, hrab some valuables and flee. So in the end, usually the only thing an alarm is good for is to notify you that you were just burgled. (unless you enjoy frequent fines for false alarms). You are better off getting a dog, getting to know your neighbors and watching out for each other, increasing the lighting in and around your home, removing overgrown vegetation and securing your home.

Craig Lounsbury

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 6:02 p.m.

Double dead bolts are fine as I described their use. They are no more dangerous if used as I described than your car is as long as you don't try to drive 100MPH on a winding road. You simply use them when you are NOT HOME. That way if a thief gets in your house through a window he can't open the door from the inside. When your home you DO NOT USE the double dead bolt, you use the single dead bolt........because you didn't replace the single dead bolt with a double you merely ADDED a double for use when YOUR NOT HOME. How much good will that do? Hard to say but they only cost 20 bucks a door if you install them yourself. And remember sports fans, they are supplement to a single bolt for when your not home, not a replacement for a single bolt.

rs

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 5:25 p.m.

If the ADT alarm was going off and police didn't show up, that just means the alarm is on but they aren't paying ATD for monitoring service because they didn't renew the contract. As for disconnecting the power, ADT alarms are connected to a battery backup so they will continue to work days after the power is out. Modern alarms such as ADT also connect via cellular phone connection, so cutting the phone cable on the house doesn't do anything either. Cutting the power and phone line to the house does not mean the alarm will not work if you are paying for the service. Nice not knowing anything about a service then saying it doesn't work.

Craig Lounsbury

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 4:50 p.m.

another option for a one time cost and a DIY factor would be security film on your windows....not "cheap" but functional. Combine that with adding double dead bolts to your doors (keyed on both sides) and most run of the mill B&E criminals will go somewhere else. As to the double dead bolts one shouldn't use them when home, just when you leave and the house is empty. So they wouldn't replace your existing locks but supplement them.

Bertha Venation

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 4:21 p.m.

I'm sory for her. Especially if she had her house secured (locked). It would be scary to know a stranger has been through your house.

Billy Bob Schwartz

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 3:55 p.m.

ADT, anyone? What does it cost to get enough service from such a firm that this will be very unlikely to happen tn your home? Serious business.

dwcwork

Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:49 p.m.

Many criminals know that places have an alarm and don't care. They break in, grab fast and are out of there in no time. It takes time for the police to show up, and it is usually to a smash and grab scene. Might help with insurance, and may only lose stuff out in the open, but will not stop you from getting broken into.

OLDTIMER3

Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:40 p.m.

The cost really varies from different suppliers of the service. The Michigan Moose Association has a supplier who is way more reasonably priced than others.

cinnabar7071

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 4:15 p.m.

Might even get enough of a discount on your home owner ins to pay the monthly bill.

vivian

Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 3:21 p.m.

Is it possible for the police to determine how the thieves are selecting their targets? If so, can that be reported? I'm troubled by what appears to be a spike in burglaries outside the always-susceptible student neighborhoods, and I'm wondering whether there are any patterns, any common circumstances, or anything other than just randomness to be observed here. If we knew why this thief broke into this particular dwelling in this particular area at this time, maybe--I admit it's a small chance-- we'd know something that would help us figure out what we could do to reduce the likelihood of being the next target. In addition to taking the usual precautions, I mean.

vivian

Fri, Sep 28, 2012 : 12:20 p.m.

I've read that most thieves and petty criminals tend to have relatively low IQs--I don't know for certain that the claim is valid, of course, but it seems to be supported by quite a lot of anecdotal evidence. That said, maybe the police are dealing mostly with people whose mentation isn't that complex, and hearing their way of selecting their targets might be illuminating. And apologies (but tepid ones) in advance to anyone who's upset by my suggesting that petty housebreakers may not be that bright.

Richard Carter

Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 2:11 p.m.

Of course, the smart thieves realize the police are looking for patterns too, and so try to outguess the cops who are trying to outguess the thieves.