I'll make this short. I sure wish many years ago, I would have read the advice given on OscarO's threads.

Has it been released as to what items were stolen from the home?

I can understand the above message about someone with a loaded weapon at their side - however, please remember a few things. As one of our former posters, Figmo, used to say - shooting under a stressful situation can bring about bad results and it is very possible the person shot will not be a burglar but a family member. Secondly, it has been known to happen that a burglar has taken a loaded gun from the homeowner and shot the homeowner.

After completing a government school in surreptitious entry I went home and showed my wife that I could pick the lock on our front door in under five seconds. She looked at me with icy blue eyes and asked, "Now, what are you going to do about it?"

I installed an alarm that would wake us if any door or window was opened.

Lock picking by burglars is uncommon. Forcibly defeating the lock is more common. A large screwdriver is all that is needed to force open the average front door. It is not necessarily noisy. Frequently this is all that is needed to force open a sliding glass door.

While we were on vacation an attempt was made to burglarize our house through the back (sliding glass) door. The screen was cut and opened but the door could not be opened because I had installed a metal bar that prevented the door from being opened even if the lock was defeated. Usually these bars can be defeated but I had modified mine to make that more difficult.

Our next door neighbor was burglarized while they slept. One pane was silently removed from a window, the window unlocked and opened and the house entered. They had a dog, but characteristic of the breed, the Beagle was friendly.

Day time burglaries are more common than night time burglaries because at night the residents can be expected to be home. The prospective burglar rings the door bell. If someone comes to the door the burglar offers to provide some kind of service and then moves on. If no one comes to the door it only takes a moment to kick it in.

A friend in Tampa who is a retired deputy sheriff had a sophisticated camera system installed in his house. It records anyone who enters his yard. A year ago his house was burglarized. The burglar damaged the house and stole several items but failed to remove the DVD with his picture on it. The picture was turned over to the Sheriff's Office. Through diligent investigation of his own the retired deputy identified the burglar and gave the information to the Sheriff's Office and an arrest was made. The trial was scheduled for early January. Even with a plea deal the burglar will be spending several years in prison.

An earlier poster pointed out that the local Sheriff's Office offers a free security analysis of your house. This is probably offered by all three SOs that patrol The Villages. It might be a good idea for you to have the survey done.

I have a well trained roommate and I think there are many Vets in The Villages who are trained also. Rolling over and playing dead won't solve the problem..

Yes!
 

Where is that "LIKE" or "AGREE" button?

My posting was to give a caution about guns and not to argue. Being a veteran does not make a person a trained gun handler. Most of the vets here have been out of the service from 20 to 40 years and have either just done game hunting or target shooting and have not been trained recently in shooting under stressful situations.

Best idea, in my opinion, is to get a monitored alarm system.

Would that burglar (?) at Miona Shores have stayed in the house at the wee morning hours if a 110db siren was sounding inside and outside the home as soon as the door or a window was opened?

have to say that the alarm service may be picking up some new customers

I wonder what the police response time would be following an alarm going off. TV covers a large amount of square miles. Anyone on TOTV had any Experence?

Could it be that the perps had cased the neighborhood (and the house) before they did their deed???

Years ago (in the 60's) we lived in the country (rural) in a rented home. Our house had a near break-in during the night while we were asleep. The doors/windows were locked and the perp(s) tried to pry a window with a broom or some other device which slipped and broke the window which woke us up. They didn't get in but scared the devil out of us for a good while. We called law enforcement but no one was ever caught. Not sure what these folks were looking for as we were quite poor at the time and didn't have any valuables.

While these break-ins are troubling we can only take measures to "try" to keep safe and most of us know what to do. We do live in about as safe of a community as any in the U.S. I think truth be told, "IF" we knew the half of what happens on a daily basis in this country we'd be doing more than speculation on a social media site. Let's all take the necessary measures, help one another in our neighborhoods as possible by being vigilent and reporting any weird things we might be observing to law enforcement people.

I agree! I want to know if there are crimes being committed in my community. I don't like being a "mushroom".

I agree. This forum can be a huge help in the effort to protect ourselves.

I am pretty sure that most of the builders in charge of crews have had a long history working for the Morses. Both of the builders for our first house and second home said they had been there since Gary Morse came from Michigan, but subs are another story.


I keep thinking that if anyone beside your neighbors are on your street working, do not leave together.

The concept of "casing the neighborhood" extends to include door to door salesmen and religious groups. That is why many Neighborhood Watch neighborhoods post "No Soliciting" signs, which have the force of law when properly implemented.

Any time there are strangers around your house you should avoid leaving if it will let them know you are leaving your house vacant.

.

I wonder if robbers like Ma Barker, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson or Willie Sutton ever had a second job cutting grass or spraying weeds. I think not. I do no see the bad guys being contractors. I compare the bad guys with miners. If a guy is a gold miner, is he going to make more money in a gold mine or a coal mine? Is TV a gold mine or a coal mine? With Wildwood and Fruitland Park in close proximity….you get the idea.

None of the "robbers" you name were "burglars." They are different kinds of criminals.

You also named robbers from the 1930s. Todays burglars are likely to be from the day laborer working class (cutting grass and spraying weeds) who sell the things they steal at a pawn shop. (Which is why it is important to have serial numbers recorded for your TVs, cameras, computers and firearms. Police routinely check the serial numbers on these items when they are sold or pawned. Having photos and descriptions of your jewelry is also very valuable.)

.