FYI, our house near West Ferry was burgled yesterday morning.
Our wonderful neighbor Nick scared them off and called the police, but not before they managed to steal some valuables (laptops, digital camera, couple of old cell phones, some jewellery...). Basically anything with recognizable value they could shove into backpacks.
The two thieves he saw were young black boys, wearing hoodies. They were probably PRE-TEENS. They pried open a back ground floor window using a tire iron, and then crawled inside.
There may have been others, because they pulled out just about every drawer in the house and dumped the contents. And they didn't have long in there. I left around 8:30 and Nick saw them about 10 am. They ran east towards Main Street.
So watch your back windows. Ours had the usual sash lock plus an additional sliding security lock (slides into the path of the window so it won't slide up very far). They applied enough force to break the sash lock out of the sash, popped the stops part way out, and then push the sash off its track around the security slider. I suspect they still only got in because they were so small.
Crazy that they we pre-teens, its just like that avanadalism last week at the Massachusetts avenue project. Do you think adults train these children or they do it on their own accord?
i agree with tiny, i bet they sat there and planned it out. i hung out with many a shady characters for a good portion of my life, and as shitty as their partents were, the majority of them did not throw their kids into a life of crime. they just kind of neglected them while they did their own shitty things. and trust me i've known some shitty parents, who were heroin addicts and crack addicts and were more worried about where their next fix was going to come from than where their kids were.
so when these kids are roaming the streets late at night, they come up with ideas as to how to get their hands on some loot. they also see their older siblings/friends of older siblings/cousins/uncles/neighbors/family friends/ etc. and what they are doing and overhear conversations and plan their own robberies/muggins/thefts/etc.
Gee. I used a double-negative and messed up. You would have thought that dealing with statistics would have honed this habit to perfection. But alas, I am a mediocre student.
Actually, the human brain is known for its problem-solving skills, in addition to its deviousness and "creativity". I would not be surprised if this wasn't all pre-meditated and calculated over several days of observation and some focused brainstorming.
I mean if a crow could do this: :::link:::
Why not pre-teen humans??
ya, but like they saw it on tv or like their dad was like, "Here is how you crowbar a window, little Jimmy - go make me proud."
I'm guessing they had to have learned it somewhere - its not like we are born with natural savvy on breaking into homes.