Arson and Attempted Break-ins

All landlords know that you don't receive a lot of calls in the morning (at least til about 10am). Tenants that work day shift are busy working and tenants that don't work (far too many) are busy sleeping. When I got a phone call this morning at about 7:30 am, I knew that probably wasn't a good thing. The caller was a long time Section 8 tenant in one of my low income apartment buildings. She was calling to tell me that someone tried to break into her apartment at about 4am this morning. She said that there was some damage to her door and that the police wanted me to check our security camera video to see if we could identify the culprit. Since this wasn't an emergency, I told her that I would be there around 10 am.

When I arrived a little before 10 am, I went straight to my apartment building next door, where our security camera system is located. This particular security camera system covers both buildings. As I approached the door to the storeroom where the security camera system is located, I immediately noticed that something was wrong. There were scrape marks on the door frame; the door knob was dented; and the plastic trim piece on the padlock was missing. Someone had clearly tried to break into my storeroom also. Upon entering the storeroom, I started to burn a DVD of the camera footage from the night before.

While the DVD was being burned, I went next door to talk to the tenant. The door trim had been taken off the door by the criminal and there were tool marks on the door where the criminal had attempted to gain entry. There was also a shoe print on the door where it had obviously been kicked. I repaired the door and told the tenant that I would contact the police with the camera video after I had a chance to review it.

It's easiest to review the camera video on my laptop, so I grabbed the DVD and prepared to go home to get look at it on my laptop. As I was getting to my truck, I saw a man walking on the sidewalk wearing a badge around his neck (like a detective). I asked him if I could help him find someone and he asked who owned the building with the security cameras. I asked him who he was and he said that he was the investigator with the fire department. The building next door to mine had been the victim of an arson fire last night. I told him that I owned the building with the cameras and that there had been break-in attempts at both of my apartment buildings last night also. That couldn't be a coincidence, crimes at three buildings in a row in an area where there hasn't been any significant crime (at least since I put in the security camera system). I also discovered that 2 bicycles had been stolen from my building last night. I explained to the investigator that I had the camera video on DVD and was going home to look at it. I told him that I would call him with the result.

I went home to watch the video and have an early lunch. What I saw was shocking. A well-known criminal from the area was responsible for this mini-crime spree. I instantly knew the identity of the criminal. I had encountered this loser many times before. However, what was surprising was the extent of this criminal's activities the night before. The video caught him attempting to break into 6 apartments; attempting to break into my storeroom; and walking to the building next door at exactly the time that the fire was set. BUSTED!

I called the fire inspector and told him that I would bring the DVD down during the afternoon and I intended to call the police about getting them the video also.

My intention for the afternoon had originally been to replace an old corroded galvanized water line that was supplying one of the water tanks in the same building that had been broken into. So, one the way back into town, I stopped at the plumbing supply store to get the parts. I dropped off the video at the fire station and went back to the apartment building to start working on the water line. No sooner had I arrived at the building, my phone rang. It was a tenant at my apartment building next door. The criminal that had been on the crime spree the night before was there and in a confrontation with one of my tenants who caught him with her stolen bike. He was threatening my tenant with the same hammer that he used the night before to strike my door knob and pad lock. Needless to say, I immediately called the police, as did some of the tenants. Within a few minutes there were two police cruisers on the scene. The criminal had fled the scene, but I had the opportunity to show the officer the video. The officer said that based on the video, they would attempt to arrest the criminal and they asked me to take a copy of the video to the police station in the next couple of days.

After all the excitement settled down, I went next door and replaced the water line. That was enough for one day and I headed for home.

Tomorrow, my wife and I are going snowboarding!