Break-in Village of Sanibel
 

Heard at Water Volleyball tonight there was a house in Sanibel that was broken into--front door kicked in and house messed up--jewlery and cash missing?? Happened today at 1100 am??? Anyone have further info??

I was playing shuffleboard at Captive this morning and we heard sirens around that time. This is distressing to read...

Anybody know the street?

It happened in the middle of the block on Vanilla Leaf Pl just off Pinellas. Know the neighbors so don't want to go into particulars but is a sad situation for the Villages

Somebody was really "brave" to knock down the door in the middle of day and take time to ransack the house. Wow! I live in Sanibel and this is unreal.

And people here roll their eyes and look at you like you're crazy when you say you have a monitored alarm system, just like many of us had in any other suburban, city or rural neighborhood across the country.

That is why I am very weary of people coming into my home, not that I have anything, but still.

Where the occupants home?

That is really sad. I hope they catch the perpetrator/s.
Does anyone have stats on how often break-ins occur in TV.

Did they break down the front door? That would not be a small effort and would take an implement, I would think. Or did they go through the back sliders? They can be forced if they don't have a stick in them.

I have now lived here for five years, the first four half time. I have never spoken or heard from anyone personally or knew anyone personally that knew anyone personally that had a break in. There was jewelry taken from two or three homes in the middle of the day while the owners were away north of 466, reported on this forum and in The Daily Sun. If I remember correctly, the son of a resident was arrested. There was a sub contractor arrested for stealing appliances from a home not yet closed reported in The Daily Sun. Golf carts were stolen and they caught the son of the resident who was doing it and selling them to a person off campus, also reported in The Daily Sun.

It is as safe here as it was in Ohio in my opinion. I am impressed with the new security systems using cameras. They are installed all over the inside and outside of homes, hidden from plain view and you can access them from your smart phone when you are away. (I don't sell them. I get checks directly from Gary Morse, remember? He gave me my house);)

Is Vanilla leaf completely sold out or only partially inhabited?

I haven't read the paper yet this morning. If it isn't in the paper someone ELSE please call the news editor, (Reba?). I think I have pithed her off because I have called several times to check on things.

Call me crazy but
 

I feel safe in TV....We have residents that are retired and check out any strange behavior in the neighborhood, which is unlike our home in NC with neighbors that have both members of the family working....Plus I would say that a greater percentage of our neighbors (retired military) are ARMED....Granted we do have a higher percentage of snowbirds south of 466 which does make them more vulnerable, but we do have Community Watch and every gate has a camera...So there are definitely pluses for living in TV...Sure hope the family robbed is OK and their items are recovered and the culprits go to the big house.

I have read at least 1/2 dozen reports of house break-ins, quite a bit of golf cart thievery, golf clubs being stolen off the carts, etc. over the past couple years. There are no security gates here, so anyone can get in. Keep your doors locked when you're not around, and don't leave your golf cart where you can't see it.

The OP said the front door

If the door was kicked in, that sounds like a home invasion, especially if the dwelling is occupied. When we were on our LSV, I noticed the doors and the locks were not high quality and would be relatively easy to force and gain entry. This had the potential for going bad and fast, for the homeowner or the bad guy. I hope that the owners are well and a quick arrest is made.

Wow. At eleven in the morning in our village there is always someone about, riding bikes, golf carts, walking dogs, etc. Wonder how they got away with it? Hope there were some cameras on other houses.

We had keys and were receiving furniture for friends not yet moved in yesterday in Sanibel and The Village Watch stopped to verify us, and the Southern Lifestyle truck was parked in front.