Homeowners Confront Burglars on East and West Coasts. Look Out!

By now most of us have read the warnings from law enforcement professionals all over the US & Canada: do not, under any circumstances, confront a burglar in your home. And that means, you need to know if there is an intruder present: after all, you may not know if a burglar is in your home when you walk through the door – especially if you have no alarm system to alert police, and scare the burglar off. It’s a dangerous situation when you enter your home (or are home in the first place), thinking all is well, and encounter someone in the act of stealing your cash, jewelry, or electronics. When you have no warning, as happened in these stories, the results can be frightening. The first is from Wyoming, Delaware, located on the “DelMarVa” peninsula.

A woman walked in on a burglary in progress Tuesday night at her home in the Wild Quail development west of Wyoming, state police said today. The incident occurred about 8:25 p.m. on Bob White Place, said Master Cpl. Gary Fournier. Shortly after returning home, the 53-year-old resident was in her study reading and got up to go to the bathroom when she noticed two large men in dark clothing in her kitchen. She ran to an upstairs bedroom where she activated a panic alarm, Fournier said. Then she ran out to her neighbor’s home, where police were called. Nothing appeared to have been taken, Fournier said. He said one of the intruders may have been wearing a hooded sweatshirt. It is not known if the intruders were armed.

This woman was lucky – these confrontations often end very badly for the homeowner. Imagine your feeling of vulnerability if that happened to you. That’s why police increasingly recommend that when you have a monitored alarm system, you should arm your system while at home as well as when you’re away. The next story comes from Stockton, California and has a more serious ending.

Police in Stockton say that a man came home to two burglars and was stabbed while fighting one off. The incident happened near Rion and Bancroft Ways a little before 9 a.m., according to a release from the Stockton Police Department. A man told police that two young men were breaking a window of the home when he pulled up. One of the suspects ran, but the resident and another suspect started fighting in front of the home. The other suspect soon returned and stabbed the man with a small knife, police say. The suspects were last seen running up Bancroft Way. Only a vague description of the suspects was given. Authorities expect the man stabbed to be OK.

In this case the homeowner defied the rule of common sense, and confronted the intruder. Better to call the police. And better yet, rely on a monitored alarm system to detect that broken window in the first place, so police can be dispatched. You want the police to confront these burglars – so you don’t have to. Our third example comes from Hemet, California, east of Los Angeles. This one actually starts out as a pretty harrowing experience.

A California woman, who awoke to find a burglar trying to take the watch off of her wrist on Saturday, chased the man from her house after she grabbed an ax. Robyn Irvine, a former ax-throwing competitor living in Hemet, Calif., woke up when she heard a noise and saw the burglar trying to snatch her watch from her wrist, according to CBS Los Angeles. Irvine quickly grabbed an ax, scaring the intruder. “He froze at first. I shocked him with my voice and then he took off. There was no way I could’ve caught him, but I could’ve thrown it,” said Irvine, adding that she could have paralyzed the suspect by striking him in the spine. Fox News reports that police searched the area and found a man hiding behind some nearby bushes, along with property belonging to the woman. Irvine also reported that two people were in her home going through some items and took some food. “They had sandwiches, they had soda,” said Irvine, who gives a stern warning to anyone who is thinking about burglarizing her home in the future. “If you’re in my house, you’re not walking out,” Irvine stated.

Now there’s one intruder who was lucky that the homeowner didn’t apply her competitive skills! As is usually the case in these situations – and I could cite countless more from daily crime reports – there appeared to be no alarm system in the home of the victims. The first case does reference a panic alarm, but if there was a monitored alarm system in place, it was not armed. The fact is that only about 20% of US homes do have a monitored alarm system that can trigger a police dispatch. Imagine how much safer you would feel when entering your home at any time of day or night, without worrying about who might be there. And with interactive monitoring services, such as those offered by FrontPoint, you can receive a text or email any time a door opens, telling you which door. That’s the kind of protection more people are looking for today, as home intrusion statistics continue to get worse across much of the US. A monitored home alarm system can absolutely help to prevent these confrontations in the first place. And that’s where FrontPoint comes in: we’re the leader in wireless home security, as well as the #1 ranked home alarm company in the US. When you’re ready for a home alarm that’s safer, smarter, simpler, more affordable, and virtually impossible to defeat, you’re ready for FrontPoint: no hidden fees, the best interactive, wireless home alarm technology at the best price, and world-class service. With a burglary occurring every 14 seconds in the US, there are still lots of homes – and homeowners – left for us to protect.