Pepper Spray, Stun Guns, and Tasers… Oh My!

A machete-wielding robber held a 61-year-old Birmingham homeowner hostage for seven hours in a home invasion, until he eventually grew tired and allowed the victim to escape.

After threatening the man with a machete and hammer, the robber told the victim he would “slice him open” if he didn’t hand over all of his cash. For some reason the robber then stuck around awhile, holding the man hostage.

Eventually the robber wandered into the victim’s bedroom. In Goldilocks fashion, the bed ended up being just right. The 24-year-old robber crashed on the mattress and fell asleep.

The victim was then able to sneak out of the house and flee to his neighbor’s home where he called the police. The burglar was arrested and charged with aggravated burglary and false imprisonment.

I think Jason Voorhees would turn over in his grave to hear about this disrespect of a machete crime. But I suppose he would even get bored after messing around for 7 hours…

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

Related Blog Posts:
Theft Victim Slashes Suspect With Machete
Farm Worker Defends Himself by Fighting Python in a Tree
No Coconuts for You!
Machete Becoming Bay State’s Weapon of Choice?

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Normally, diversion safes are constructed of regular household objects, like soda cans, cleaning products, books or flower pots. They are a pretty ingenious device to store your valuables safely, in plain sight.

Besides the commonly used objects, if you did it correctly, you could use just about anything to deceptively hide valuables around the house. The worst (or best, depending on how you look at it) I have actually seen for sale was fake “dirty underwear” with a hidden compartment to hide cash. Not something a burglar would want to sift through looking for an easy score, unless of course skid marks were your thing.

Now I have heard of hiding money under your mattress before, but this Israeli woman in Tel Aviv took this a little too far. Citing some sort of “traumatic experiences with banks” in the past, this woman decided to hide her life savings inside an old mattress.

That’s all well and good, except when she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise present, she threw out the old mattress. Yes, the mattress that she claims was stuffed with almost $1 million dollars in Israeli Shekels and US Dollars.

That is one heck of a Diversion Safe.

I can imagine a mattress with that much cash would be slightly uncomfortable to sleep on, no wonder the mother wanted a new bed. But then on the other hand, that is something I would NOT forget about retrieving before pitching out the trash.

“I woke up in the morning screaming, when it hit me what happened,” said the woman when she finally realized what she did the day prior. “It was all my money in the world.”

Efforts to locate the discarded mattress and cash have so far come back unsuccessful. The trash was already picked up and sent to a local landfill, but after searching at least three locations, she has turned up zilch.

There is really no way to verify her claim, and she isn’t disclosing too many details yet. Wouldn’t want every treasure hunter in Israel looking for an old mattress stuffed with a cool million. Israeli authorities did not have a report filed.

Wonder how this “traumatic experience with beds” is going to change her banking habits?

A manager at one of the dump sites said his staff was assisting the “totally desperate” woman, but with over 2,500 tons of garbage arriving every day, chances of finding the mattress in the garbage stack are getting slimmer.

The manager also reported he increased the security at the facility to keep other would-be treasure hunters out.

Sure… Good luck with that.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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Other Diversion Safe Related Blog Posts:

Diversion Safes, Better than a Cardboard Box

Fake Out the Burglars and Beat Them at Their Own Game

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The 70-year-old wife of an Elyria, Ohio judge was so angry at the intruders who tried to rob her, that she whacked one of them in the head with a pot. BAM!

Four boys pushed their way into her home while Ellen Basinski was on the phone with her husband, this past Tuesday.

The husband David Basinski, a Lorain County Judge overheard the comotion and rushed home. His wife grabbed her favorite “Emeril Lagasse” 5-quart sauce pan in an attempt to defend herself against the teenagers rifling through her purse and cabinets, and ended up smacking one of them upside the head.

One of the teens threw a bottle of whiskey towards Mrs. Basinski to distract her so one of the other boys could flee. They all ran from the scene but were later apprehended and charged with aggravated burglary.

The judge said his wife was rather upset that police had to take her pan as evidence. No sauce tonight!

To kick this story up another notch, it was later reported that Chef Emeril Lagasse heard of the incident and felt so bad that the woman lost one of his trademark pans while warding off home intruders that he’s sending her a whole new set of his signature cookware.

Double BAM!

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Similar to the other Lost Cell Phone story, this one out of New Castle, Delaware is also pretty funny.

Apparently we have this guy who breaks into this house.

The homeowner hears someone opening his basement door and is startled when a unknown guy walks into his den. The victim who was sitting on his couch, jumps up and starts yelling at the intruder.

The guy takes off through the house and escapes out the front door.

Can you guess what happened next?

Well the guy ended up dropping his cell phone in the victim’s front yard. Way to go buddy.

So the homeowner calls the police, who arrive to take the report. While the cops are looking around, the victim finds the cell phone on the ground and hands it over to the police.

Right there we are pretty good and should have no problem finding this guy. But, it gets better…

With the cell phone in the hands of the investigator, it starts to ring. And whose name do you suppose comes up on the display? Mom.

Of course the police answer and talk to the would-be burglar’s Mother, who confirms the identity of her son.

The police later found the 33-year-old guy walking along the highway. He was taken into custody without incident and charged with burglary related offenses.

So, if you have been following our burglary tips from the past few days, pull up your pants so you don’t trip or get a wedgie, don’t leave your getaway van running with the keys inside, eat the whole doughnut and leave the cell phone at home.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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Ron Strykert, former guitarist and co-founder of 80s rock band Men At Work did not keep to himself and was arrested late last week on a felony charge of making criminal threats.

“Who can it be knocking at my door. Go ‘way, Don’t come ’round here no more…”

The Police (LADP, not the band) reported Strykert, who comes from a land Down Under, Where women glow and men plunder, showed up at a Hollywood home where he used to live and caused a disturbance. The current homeowners met a strange man, who made them nervous, were forced to run and take cover, and call 911.

Unfortunately for Ron, the breakfast was served in LAPD lockup.

Ron, this is Hollywood, you can’t just go around plundering like in Australia.

It’s no mistake, They’ve gone and grabbed old Ronnie, and Strykert was given a time out in a Los Angeles jail where he can cool off and do the “Safety Dance” to his heart’s content… Oh, wait, that was Men Without Hats… He is of course expected to Be good be good be good be good (Ronnie).

I’m betting there will be no vegemite sandwiches in jail either.

Ok, I could probably throw some more Men At Work lyric references in there, but I think I’m done (12?). perhaps I’ll come back and edit in some more later. “People just love to play with words.”

“Can you hear, can you hear the thunder?”

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A recently laid off WaMu employee happened to be at home when a pair of burglars broke into his house. His wife was working, his son was in daycare and he was in the basement.

Just after 1:30 PM, while doing some work around the house, Patrick Rosario thought he heard a knock at his front door. Before he could respond, he then heard a loud noise. He quietly walked up the stairs and was able to peek out of the cellar door, which was cracked open about an inch.

He saw an unknown person walking around and heard the noises of at least another person going through the house collecting his valuables.

Rosario had a cell phone on him, and immediately called 911. He was able to sneak out the backdoor undetected, and arm himself with a hammer before he made it to the front of his house. Hiding behind his garbage can, Rosario was able to peek around the corner and see what was going on. He still had the 911 dispatcher on the phone.

Apparently, while the burglars were busy going through the home, they left their Ford Windstar van running out front. Assuming the burglars expected a quick getaway, Rosario hopped in the van through the unlocked door, and drove away.

He figured the guys ransacking his home would be too busy to notice, and even if they did, they would not be able to catch him on foot. He drove to a friend’s house a few block and waited for the police.

“I kept a pretty cool head,” Rosario said. “You never know how you’re going to react until you’re in that situation.”

Back at the house, a witness across the street later reported that two men exiting the house “looked back… and appeared startled.”

Dude, Where’s my Van?

“I wish I could have seen the look on their faces,” Rosario said.

The two burglars fled the scene and left a couple of flat-screen TVs, game consoles, laptop and a jewelry box by the front door.

Some of the responding officers were quite amused at the details of this attempted burglary. “Two pulled up, and they looked over at me and go, ‘You stole their car — way to go, dude. That’s awesome.’ Another told me that I just made her month.” says Rosario.

Rosario acted against the 911 dispatcher’s advice, and local authorities wouldn’t officially comment if Rosario’s actions were advisable. “We expect responsible adults to make their own decisions,” he said. “Clearly, this worked in this case, but in another case it might not have.”

Even Rosario realized the events could have unfolded differently. If the break in occurred at the same time a day earlier, he would have been napping in the bedroom with his 2-year-old son. “I would have been trapped in my bedroom,” he said.

Rosario has already replaced his front door with a more secure door, purchased some pepper spray and had a “robust” alarm system installed.

Luckily things worked out for Patrick this time, but now if anything happens again, he is better prepared.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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An uninvited tenant has been making the rounds between unattended vacation homes in the North Webster, Indiana area. Apparently, this guy would scope out Webster Lake residences, and if the house looked unoccupied and didn’t have recent tracks in the snow, he figured no one would be around.

So this guy would effectively “move in” for a spell, eat some of the food left behind, drink some beer, wear some of the homeowner’s clothes and sleep in the beds… Eventually he would rotate to another similarly unoccupied vacation home, once he grew bored, ran out of food, or otherwise felt the house no longer suited him.

Of course, besides having his way with the contents of the house, he would steal some items when leaving. It wasn’t reported how much porridge was missing or if any chairs were broken, but it is assumed at least some of the beds ended up being just right.

He ended up being noticed when the owner of a previously visited home found the guy’s wallet in a pair of the homeowner’s overalls left at the house. The police were able to follow some fresh tracks in the snow to another house, where Goldilocks was now camping out and apprehended the guy.

So basically, while lounging around in someone else’s house, in someone else’s clothes this guy forgot to take his wallet out of the other guys pants when he took them off and left. He must have forgotten which house and whose pants he was in the last time he remembered having his wallet… And that is how he got caught.

So far, the police can account for a few homes that were broken into, but until other homeowners return when the weather warms up, they may not know for sure how many more places were targeted during the spree.

The 31-year-old guy is being charged with a preliminary count of 4 burglaries and police are attempting to recover the stolen items.

“I’ve been on 19 years and I’ve never seen anybody actually moving in and living in somebody’s residence like that,” says an officer from the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department. “He was just kinda running the gamut around the edges of the lake.”

Often times crime happens when no one is around to notice, and the creep is long gone by the time anyone does. Now, you can protect your home, vacation house or office with the Auto Dialer Security and Safety Alarm.

The Auto Dialer has a unique passive infrared system that monitors any motion in an area you select. When the unit is ARMED, the motion detector watches the protected area. If movement is detected, a 105db security alarm will sound and the Auto Dialer will call up to 5 preset telephone numbers selected by you. The Auto Dialer can also be used in Chime mode, such as in a store, where a chime will alert you when motion is detected.

The Auto Dialer Security and Safety Alarm is easy to set-up. Install a 9 volt battery, connect the AC adaptor ,plug in a standard telephone line and mount it to the wall. As long as you have an active phone line, you can have your vacation residence monitor itself and give you a call if anything funny is going on.

It never hurts to secure, and for less than $40, you can’t go wrong. Goldilocks be warned, these bears mean business!

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A guy in Lynchburg, Virginia was busted for burglary when greasy fingerprints on an orange juice bottle was left at the scene.

Apparently while stealing appliances, tools, jewelry and other household items, the burglar also raided the fridge. At one home, this guy helped himself to some fried chicken and oj, not the most appealing combination, but I guess beggers (or thieves) can’t be choosers. When he non-discretely disgarded the the trash, police at the scene were able to lift the chicken grease prints off of the bottle and match them to the burglar.

He ended up sentenced to six years in jail as has been found guilty of at least three counts of burglary and another two counts of grand larceny over several months.

It was also reported the 78 bags of stolen popcorn were recovered at the man’s home, among other stolen property. Details on the popcorn were not elaborated on, whether this was some strange collection of popcorn from several different locations pooled together, or if someone actually had 78 bags of popcorn in their house for him to steal all at once.

That is alot of popcorn.

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The Mace Wireless Security System is a new and inexpensive way to protect you, your family, your home, your chicken, popcorn and your orange juice too.

Even small businesses would benefit greatly by the cost-effective and reliable protection provided by this wireless security system.

KFC approved, protect yourself today.

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A woman woke up in the middle of the night Sunday in her Atkinson, NH condo when she heard some noise downstairs. She found an unknown man in her living room when she proceeded to check out what was going on.

During the confrontation, the intruder grabbed her by the arm and punched her in the face. The woman then asked the man if he wanted money, which of course he said yes. The man allowed the woman to retrieve her purse, to which she pulls out a can of pepper spray, and let the creep have it.

The intruder quickly fled the house, full-faced with mace, but otherwise empty-handed. He was gone by the time the police arrived and it was determined that the man entered through a garage door that was left wide open.

1 AM in the morning, homeowner asleep, and garage door left open for the night. Not the best plan. Home Security 101, close and lock your doors. Let’s not make it that easy.

The Plaistow police attempted to track the burglar with their K-9 unit, but the dog was unsuccessful in tracking the creep down in the neighborhood.

It was good the homeowner had some pepper spray in the house, but she might have avoided the punch to the face if she had it handy while investigating the disturbance. Luckily, it was only a punch to the face, not a naked, knife wielding sex offender like yesterday’s story.

Spray first, ask questions later. As soon as you realize this person does not belong in your house, in the middle of the night, there is no courtesy. Lets not make it a habit of pepper spraying a teenager sneaking back into their house after curfew. That is another discipline issue for the next morning.

I was watching that new “Worst Week” sitcom last night. The show is basically about a man with very bad luck that is planning to tell his girlfriend’s parents that he wants to marry their daughter, and that she is carrying his child. That is if anything ever ends up going right for him.

The main character Sam, caught an intuder breaking-in to his future in-laws house after hearing there was a burglar terrorizing the nieghborhood. He even helped his girlfriend’s dad install a motion light earlier that day.

So when Sam saw this strange man attempting to gain entry into the house late at night, he smacked the guy in the head with a shovel and tied him up in the yard. When he retrieved the family to show off his handywork, his girlfriend introduced him to her brother he hadn’t met yet. “I forgot my keys” said the brother, still dazed from the shovel shot to the head. The parents were less than thankful of the gesture.

If you have seen the show or previews, this wasn’t Sam’s first blunder on his huge list of things to make his future in-laws hate him. Funny show, but it his defense, Sam really wasn’t reacting poorly to the situation.

What would you do if you saw someone breaking into your house, or someone was already in your living room that didn’t appear to belong there? The police will not get there soon enough.

You owe it to yourself and family to protect your household. Be safe, be prepared.

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Police do not anticipate any arrests, I’m thinking the evidence speaks for itself.

Indianapolis police responded to a call just after 3 AM Sunday morning and found a 64-year-old dad choking out a 52-year-old intruder on the floor in the hallway of his house.

Now this wasn’t just any petty cat burglar looking to score some jewelry and electronics. The suspect was a convicted sex offender, wearing only latex gloves and a face mask. Besides effectively being naked, he also had rope, some condoms and was wielding a knife.

From the report, the intruder entered through a window and made his way into the bedroom of the 17-year-old daughter. Upon waking up and seeing the naked man in her room, the girl screamed and alerted her father.

A struggle ensued, where the father was able to avoid being stabbed with the knife and wrestled the man to the ground. The dad got a head lock or choke hold around the creep’s neck and didn’t let go as the police were called. The intruder was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police spokesman said the sex offender had a pre-existing heart condition which may have contributed in his death. I’m sure the pummeling and choke hold may have also contributed, but lets just call it a heart attack. Of course an autopsy is planned.

Apparently, this man had already jailed for 10 years for criminal confinement and sexual deviate conduct. He also failed to register as a sex offender which listed him as wanted in Boone County to boot.

The police not anticipating any arrests and the planned autopsy kinda bothers me. Let’s repaint the picture. Its 3 AM. Your 17-year-old daughter wakes you up screaming. You find naked man, with a knife in your house, more specifically in your daughter’s bedroom.

Where exactly is there a question worth anticipating? It is pretty clear what this creep was planning. I’m thinking the dad’s self defense actions were quite justified given the situation. What would you have done?

It’s pretty obvious this repeat offender was not properly rehabilitated the last time he spent time in the slammer, pretty sure another trip wouldn’t have mattered much either. One less sexual deviant running around preying on young girls.

Sure there are some less-than-lethal self-defense options, but in the heat of the moment in the middle of the night, all bets are off. You do what you can do, without thinking about it.

Perhaps a window alarm or security system might have scared him off from this house. That just leaves him ready to pick out another house the next day, possibly a house less able to defend itself.

Some pepper spray to his face would have changed his tune real quick, and the UV identifing dye would have made it easy for the police recognize him… Because a blinded, screaming, naked guy running down the street would be hard to pin the crime on…

What if the dad wasn’t home and it was just mom and the daughter? What if the dad was stabbed, the daughter raped and possibly killed, and the same to the mother? I’m thinking this case ended up as good as could be expected. Even with this outcome, I’m sure the family is quite shaken up and will continue to be concerned with their safety.

Strategically sprinkling some self defense tools around the house is always a good idea. You never know when that can of Mace, a stun gun or other personal tool of mass destruction can save your life or the life of a loved one. Don’t wait until 3 AM in the morning when a naked sex offender is roaming your house.

Be prepared for the worst, now.

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A twisted real life version of Goldilocks occurred in Billings, Montana where a man (more resembling a bear than the little blond haired girl), was found sleeping in baby bear’s bed, I mean a little boy’s bed.

Ok, it wasn’t bowls of porridge either, it was cheese from the fridge.

Apparently the mentally-challenged man broke into a house, ate some cheese in the refrigerator, made some sort of “mess in the bathroom” (no broken chair mentioned), then wandered into a bedroom. He found that the child’s bed was just right, and fell asleep in the unoccupied bed.

The mother (not mother bear) heard snoring coming from the room of her 2-year-old child around 8:30 in the morning and found a stranger fast asleep. The child, luckily ended up sleeping in the bed of his parent’s that night, and was not present in his bedroom when the burglar was on the prowl.

The mom ran to wake up her husband (not papa bear either, but it goes with the story) and called the police from a neighbor’s home. The father, armed with an unloaded shotgun, held the disheveled man until the police arrived.

The man was charged with burglary, although he pleaded not guilty in District Court.

Mace Wireless Security System anyone?? Don’t wait to hear snoring in the morning, get an ear-piercing alarm as soon as an intruder attempts to gain entry.

This home alarm system is your complete Home Security Essentials, all in one package. Why spend hundreds of dollars on a security system and pay monitoring fees when you can get the Mace Wireless Security System for a fraction of the cost? This easy to operate security system will sound an alarm at the first sign of Goldilocks when you are home. When you aren’t home, you can have it sound the alarm and then call up 5 preset phone numbers to let you know motion has been detected in your house or a door or window has opened in your home.

The Mace Wireless Security System is a new and inexpensive way to protect you, your family, and your home. Even small businesses can benefit greatly by the cost-effective and reliable protection provided by this wireless security system.

This simple and effective security system is quite impressive. It requires no wiring of any kind, and can easily be installed by anyone. Forget your monthly security monitoring service bills and frequent visits by the service man, you’ve got all that you need with this entire package.

Keep your family, porridge, cheese and the rest of your belongings safe and secure.

Popularity: 9% [?]

A burglary at a neighbor’s home a few weeks back prompted an 85-year-old Pennsylvania woman to arm herself with a .22-caliber revolver. She kept it at the ready near her bed in the bedroom. The thought of having a weapon in the house let her rest easier as several homes were being hit in her area.

This past Sunday afternoon, the woman heard what ended up being a 17-year-old punk breaking into her house. “I just walked right on past him to the bedroom and got my gun,” Leda Smith said. “I said ‘What are you doing in my house?’ He just kept saying he didn’t do it.”

Pointing the gun at the perpetrator, the grandmother forced him to dial 911 and confess his crime and told the operator to send the police to pick him up. Still holding the revolver, she then had the 17-year-old lay face down on the ground, arms and legs spread, and waited for the State Police to show up.

The boy was charged with attempted burglary and related offenses in juvenile court, but his name was not released due to his age. “It was exciting,” Smith said. “I just hope I broke up the (burglary) ring because they have been hitting a lot of places around here.”

Happy ending for the old lady this, but I wouldn’t suggest 85-year-old women store fully loaded, unlocked .22-caliber revolvers, out in the open, on their nightstands in the bedroom. Lucky for her the kid broke into another room first and didn’t come across the weapon before she did. Lucky for her it was only a punk kid, and not a deranged lunatic that would have rushed the old lady, and probably taken it away from her.

I’m pretty sure the woman has not received much, if any firearms training. It’s hard to say if the woman would have actually pulled the trigger if necessary and I’m sure the potential for an accidental discharge would have been pretty high. That 17-year-old was rightly scared with a shaky old lady waving a loaded weapon at him.

At the same time that I applaud her efforts of defending herself and her household, I have to imagine she could be taking other effective and safer measures. One option would be to have some simple and inexpensive home alarms installed. If a loud window or door alarm announced the presence of this kid before he even made his way into the house, he would have ran away and avoided the confrontation all together.

Perhaps a shot of pepper spray would have been as effective as pointing a gun at the kid. Sure everyone remained unharmed in this instance, but if push came to shove and the lady actually shot and killed this kid, it would have been far more tragic than if he got a quick coating of pepper spray.

I believe in defending my household as much as any of my other fellow card-carrying NRA members, but the thought of an 85-year-old woman, living alone at home, thinking a .22-cal is the answer kinda scared me.

Perhaps she would consider buying a dog? Now she has protection and companionship. I love my dog… yeah, she should buy a dog.

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No matter what the subject matter, there will be skeptics, opponents and non-believers. Personally, I’d rather converse with like-minded people rather than try to convert opposing or narrow-minded viewpoints. You either believe in something or don’t, only you can change your own mind. Usually when you do change your mind it is most likely the result of a personal change in belief rather than a persuaded thought change by someone else. I’m not saying people can’t change by the help of others, but it seems most of the people that need to hear something are too stubborn to listen. Their loss, you can only try so hard.

Usually in my field, if someone is resistant to utilizing some form of self defense, I will briefly speak my case, then back off. In some cases I may speak my case longer or more persuasively, depending on who I am talking to. But for casual acquaintances, brief mention is fine. If I am able to plant a seed in their head for them to chew on later, all the better. But I can not be responsible for every human being that doesn’t heed my opinion and do something to protect themselves or loved ones. I have myself and my loved ones to worry about.

Besides the ultra anti-violence, turn the other cheek types, more often people are just complacent. Many times the main objections are a false sense of security because of the ever popular “It can’t happen to me” syndrome. I live in a nice neighborhood, I pay attention while out in public, I don’t walk down dark alleys… The truth is, sure, most people are safe, most of the time. But what about the time when you are not looking for trouble, but trouble is looking for you? Of worse yet, what if trouble found you by mistake?

The other day in Stockton, California two guys knock on a door at 4 PM in the afternoon’s broad daylight. Posing as salesman, the two attempt to strike up a conversation with the 57-year-old woman who answered the door. When she declines interest in the solicitation, the men proceed with their actual agenda and pull out a set of black, semiautomatic handguns.

The guys force their way into the house and hold the guns to the head of the woman and the 61-year-old man also at home. Once inside, the men demanded the “drugs and money” that were allegedly hidden in the house. The confused homeowners, unable to comply with the request told them that they didn’t have any.

One of the suspects took the homeowner into the kitchen and ransacked the freezers in the kitchen and garage, since apparently people storing drugs and money hide them in the freezer? While still in the living room, the other suspect admits to the woman held at gunpoint that maybe they picked the wrong house by mistake? Hrrm, perhaps…

Not wanting to leave empty handed, the suspects demanded other items of value and ended up leaving with a coin collection, telephone, camera, laptop computer and some other items. Not exactly the stash the home invaders were looking to score.

At the time of this botched home invasion, an 11-year-old boy was also home in another room. Hearing the commotion, he was able to sneak out to the safety of a neighbor’s house and call the police. Smart kid. Unfortunately, the police arrived after the suspects had fled the scene. Luckily no one was hurt, and the suspects accepted the blunder and just took off with some property.

This very easily could have ended up much worse if the attackers were angered and resorted to physical or fatal violence by their error in target, of if that was the original intent from the get go. You never know, but this set of homeowners was certainly not looking for this trouble. It wasn’t even a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were home at their house, mistakenly targeted by strangers looking for someone else.

Don’t wait for something bad to happen to you personally or to a loved one before you realize that the need for some sort of self defense tactics can be a real personal reality. No one goes around looking for trouble, but if trouble shows up and you need to do something about it, you had better be ready then, not later.

I won’t tell you I told you so if you wait too long. You will realize that all by yourself and change your own mind.

Be safe, Be prepared and have an plan of action.

Yours in Safety, Rob

Popularity: 5% [?]

A man in Japan started to notice food missing from his kitchen and decided to set up a hidden camera to see what was going on. Soon after, his newly installed hidden camera system sent some interesting pictures to his mobile cell phone of a woman intruding in his home. The man promptly called the local police who rushed over to investigate the scene.

Allegedly, a woman who was quoted saying “I didn’t have anywhere to live,” had secretly taken up residence in an unused closet in the man’s house. She set up a mattress in there and stashed some water bottles for drinking. When the man left his house, the woman would slip out of the closet to use the bathroom and raid the kitchen for some food. When the man was home, she remained quietly inside.

The police suspect she has been “living” in the closet for several months, before the owner noticed the food was running out faster than he was eating it himself. The authorities had arrested the woman for trespassing, but would not comment further on the case.

There is no telling how long the 58-year-old unemployed woman would have been able to pull off this charade if the man in Fukuoka was less observant of his grocery bill. Perhaps if the woman cleaned the house and made dinner before ducking out of sight, the man would have been less intent on figuring out what was going on?

VISEC is a surveillance computer software that turns your home or office computer into a powerful, global-wide video surveillance system in 5 minutes or less. Now we’ve put together a complete wireless VISEC all-in-one surveillance package for you.

VISEC Complete Surveillance System – when you can’t be on location but you need to see what’s going on, the VISEC surveillance system allows you to login through the Internet and do so. VISEC installs on an existing computer and records up to four wired or wireless cameras. Having a surveillance system like this is a huge bonuses to day cares, nanny cams, animal boarding facilities, vacation homes or for just keeping an eye on things while you’re away. You never know when you need to catch someone coming out of the closet.

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob

Popularity: 5% [?]

A rather interesting technology is being tested and
used in Israel, using a computer program to decipher the
stress or aggression in the barks of their guard dogs.
This information can help determine the difference between
a dog’s everyday woof and the warning bark of a breakout
or other security problem.

Apparently, even the highly trained guard dogs have been
known to occasionally “cry wolf”, which has contributed
to a lack of urgency at times for human guards to react
to the canine alarm. However, because of the heightened
senses of the guard dogs, they can often smell or hear
the activity of suspicious persons before an electronic
alarm is tripped. This is when the dogs are not being
harrassed by squirrels or barking to hear themselves bark.

This new canine-computer system collected the barks
through a microphone under different scenarios, then
sorted and graded them producing a set of control barks
that measure the significance of new live barks. Once
they collected several thousand barks into the computer,
the program effectively figured out “what makes the
emergency bark different than the other barks,” said
Bio-Sense project manager, the high-tech company out of
Tel Aviv who developed this K-9 technology.

Now the prisons, or any other of the 100 Israeli clients
using this system, can set up loud speakers and CCTV
cameras to automatically target and zoom in on the
“emergency barks”.

Back on the home front, we have an alarm technology that
takes the canine out of the equation, but still provides
functional security to your home or business.

Police say a barking dog is an excellent way to deter
burglars. The Electronic Secure Dog is the ideal watchdog
because he does what even the best living, breathing
watchdog can’t do (without some of the annoying problems
that go with owning a dog, like “barking wolf” all night,
alerting the house of squirrels in trees or the mail carrier
delivering mail down the street.).

With his electronic radar eyes, the Electronic Watch Dog
can “see” through thick doors, walls and glass. Once his
cord is plugged in, he’ll stay on duty around the clock,
indefinitely and will bark louder and more frequent as
intruder gets closer. The Electronic Secure Dog can
protect homes, apartments, mobile homes, RV’s, jewelry
stores, hotels, factories, warehouses, public and private
buildings of virtually every kind.

And best of all, the Electronic Secure Dog requires no
food, no water, no walks and produces no dog poop! Check out
our new low pricing during our Summer Security Sale!

http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com/electronicwatchdog.htm

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to you,
but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection could
be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth
Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your
personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob

Popularity: 5% [?]

Marcy poured everything she had into her little gift shop. She
rented a little building at the edge of a trendy neighborhood and
converted the upstairs into a small apartment for herself.

Although she wished she had more money in her budget for a more
elaborate security system, Marcy figured she’d be able to reinvest
some of the profits from her business into a high-tech solution
pretty quickly.

In the meantime, she picked up a few Mace Motion Alert devices.

For a fraction of the cost of a hard-wired security system, Marcy
installed wireless Mace Motion Alert stations throughout the
building. Each one includes a keypad that Marcy could use to
switch between a chime, which would help her keep track of
customers moving through the store, to an alarm, which would
sound if someone attempted to sneak into her upstairs living
space. She installed each one in just a few minutes, using only a
screwdriver.

A few days after her grand opening, traffic in the store evened
out a little bit, but kept Marcy pretty busy. Every time a new
customer would enter the shop, the Mace Motion Alert at the front
door would welcome them with a discreet chime. Marcy could glance
up from whatever she was doing to welcome her guests. Even if she
were helping someone else, she would notice the chime from the
back room, which sounded when her second Mace Motion Alert
observed someone checking out Marcy’s higher priced gifts.

One afternoon, a few of the neighborhood kids stopped in after
school. Marcy wondered why kids would be interested in her shop,
but hoped they’d at least tell their parents about it. When one
of the kids started asking lots and lots of questions, Marcy
wondered if she was being set up.

Sure enough, she heard the wail from the Mace Motion Alert she
installed by her apartment. A second later, a petrified teenager
bolted down the stairs out the door. His buddies hustled after
him. Not only did the Mace Motion Alert prevent them from
stealing any of her personal belongings, but she was sure that
word would get out that her shop was off limits to thieves.

“Now,” she thought, “I can take some of the money I was going to
spend on upgrading that security system and hire myself an
assistant!”

You can put the powerful Motion Alert to work in your home
or business. For more information and to order, go to
http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com/homeprotection.htm

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to you, but
the reality of it is that an ounce of protection could be worth
more than a pound of cure. What is Worth Protection to you? Your
belongings? Your family? Your personal well-being?
Yours in safety,

Rob

Popularity: 4% [?]

When Dr. Ron Caro’s wife wanted to leave their apartment after
their new mountain bikes were stolen from their balcony facing
the alley, Dr. Caro installed a security system that has caught
and prosecuted more than 14 perpetrators in the past two years.

Dr. Caro lives in an upscale neighborhood in Whittier, California,
in an apartment directly above the complex’s carports adjacent to
the alley. Two year’s ago, after his bikes were stolen, Dr. Caro
purchased four bullet cameras, a time-lapse video recorder, and a
quad to monitor the activity in and around the carports, alley,
and patio. The week after installing the system, a neighbor had
a break-in, so Dr. Caro reviewed the tape to see what happened.
He found the incident and gave the tape to the police.

“The police took a report and told me that unless I knew where
the suspect lived or who he was there was really no way to catch
the guy,” Dr. Caro explained.

So Dr. Caro added Voice Alert, a wireless notification device, to
his system. The Voice Alert system combines wireless infrared
sensors with a speaker/receiver that allows the user to record up
to six individual messages. When a sensor is triggered by
activity, a signal is sent to the receiver/speaker and it plays
the corresponding message to alert the home or business owner
that an incident has occurred.

Dr. Caro installed three Voice Alert sensors in the carport and
positioned them so that the infrared beams intersected to detect
anything that entered the carport. Less than a week after he
installed Voice Alert, the receiver speaker sounded at 4 a.m.
playing the message “Someone’s in the carport!” and waking
Dr. Caro.

He turned on his monitor and saw the same guy who robbed his
neighbor a week earlier in his carport. The time-lapse recorder
was recording and Caro, a former Marine Corps Officer, held the
suspect until police arrived. Dr. Caro gave the time-lapse
recording to the police, providing enough evidence to prosecute
the suspect. That same scenario, with different suspects, has
occurred numerous times over the past two years. Each with the
same outcome, the suspect gets caught and prosecuted.

“One police officer even mentioned that more people should have a
system like mine,” said Dr. Caro. “As far as I’m concerned,
surveillance without sensors is not effective. You need to catch
them in the act.”

Dr. Caro looked at other notification systems and found Voice
Alert to have the best wireless range and the best price. “It’s a
great piece of equipment,” said Dr. Caro.

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to you, but
the reality of it is that an ounce of protection could be worth
more than a pound of cure. What is Worth Protection to you? Your
belongings? Your family? Your personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob

Popularity: 4% [?]

Sometimes it is amazing what people will believe if they
see it posted online. What is worse, is the people who
know something is obviously wrong, but decide to
capitalize on the opportunity anyways…

Take the following story for example:

“A Craigslist-related scam has left an Oregon man without
most of his belongings. According to an Associated Press
report, Saturday a pair of ads popped up on Craigslist
advertising that the owner of the home had been forced
to leave the area and that all of his belongings were free
for the taking. The second of the two ads was more
specific stating that a horse that had been abandoned by
the sheriff’s department was free to anyone willing to give
it a good home.

Here the kicker: Robert Salisbury, the owner of the home
and horse, was out of town and completely unaware of
the Craigslist ads and that his house was being cleaned
out.

When a woman tracked Salisbury down and called him to
claim his horse Salisbury rushed home. He even stopped a
truck full of his possessions on the way home. “I informed
them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff
back,” Salisbury to the Associated Press. “They showed
me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right
to do what they did.”

Deja Rip-Off

Believe it or not this is the second reported time a house
has been ransacked because of a Craigslist ad. Last May
a Seattle woman placed an ad on Craigslist stating:
“Moving out … House being demolished. Come and take
whatever you want, nothing is off limits,” without the
homeowners knowledge. The house was cleaned out.”

For the rest of this story:
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006699.html

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to
you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection
could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth
Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your
personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob Cook

Popularity: 4% [?]

Two sisters were arrested by Japanese authorities for
hiding just under 60 million dollars in cardboard boxes.
It took 50 cardboard boxes stuffed with cash, and they
stored it in a shed attached to one of the sister’s
houses.

They inherited the money from their father, who died
three years ago and tried to evade the tax on 6 billion
yen of their 7.5 billion inheritance. So they stored the
cash in cardboard boxes… In a shed… Wow.

As misguided and ill-intentioned this attempt was, there
is a more practical and effective way of hiding your
valuables. (Not getting into the government crooks and
taxes debate right now..)

Diversion Safes are a unique home-security product.
http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com/diversionsafes.htm

We offer a wide variety of personal care, household
products and food containers with removable tops and
bottoms. Valuables can be discreetly stored inside
these look-a-like containers and kept in their seemingly
rightful places. Each container is indistinguishable
from the genuine product and is even weighted to feel
full.

The Chicago Crime Commission states that a typical
burglar only spends about 8 minutes in the victims home
on average. Put the odds in your favor…hide your
valuables in plain sight.

Hide stuff in your pantry in a can of soda, Pringles,
fruit cocktail or other food product. Hide items in the
bathroom cupboard in a hair spray, shaving cream or
bathroom cleaner can. Squirrel away some stuff in the
garage in a fake can of Gunk, JB Oil Treatment or
engine degreaser.

Stash a book safe on your book shelf (what place would
be safer, crooks don’t read), or stick a potted plant
safe anywhere in the house. Just keep it near a window
so your plant doesn’t die.

Make sure you remember what items in your house are
diversion safes, and what items are real products.
Nothing would be worse that sticking your last can of
root beer in the fridge and realizing just before you
crack it open to enjoy it that in fact it is NOT a
refreshing thirst quenching A&W beverage.

If that happens, hopefully it contained a small stash
of cash you were saving for a rainy day. No time like
the present, run to the store and buy a chilled 6-pack
of root beer to satisfy your craving. Put the rest of
the money back in your diversion safe and stick it back
in the pantry.

Fake out yourself, fake out the bad guys. Hide your
valuables in plain sight.

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to
you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection
could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth
Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your
personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob Cook

Popularity: 4% [?]

As the hot summer weather continues, I’d like to warn you
that homeowners and apartment dwellers need to be aware
that opportunist thieves are out there looking to take
advantage of the warm and sunny weather.

It is important at this time of year to be extra cautious
while trying to keep cool, and ensure that you do not leave
your windows open when rooms are unoccupied. Although this
may help keep your home cooler, it may also serve as an
invitation for a burglar to easily slip into your house.
Make sure you take extra care in the safety and security of
your home.

The chance of falling victim to crimes of opportunity can be
lowered by reducing the opportunities that the criminals
have. Another word of caution goes out to those relying on
window unit air conditioners to keep cool. These air
conditioners, often found in bedrooms, tend to drown out
background noise in other rooms of the house at night. While
this may sound nice, as well as cool, this is an increased
opportunity for someone to slip into your house at night and
take a look around without you hearing the rustling. These
units have also been known to be easily pushed into a house
to gain easy access at street level. Sure it may make a
thud, but if no one is home in the middle of the day, it is
an easy access point.

Burglars don’t like to work too hard getting in, and don’t
want to be heard while on the prowl. Please be cautious on
how you choose to keep cool during the remainder of the
summer.

Am I telling you to lock all your doors and windows, remove
your air conditioners and sit inside your house sweltering
from the heat? Of course not, but please take some extra
precautions without leaving your house opened up inviting
the wrong crowd.

Be extremely cautious of what windows you leave opened and
how secure your air conditioners are, especially at ground
level. If you are leaving the house, make sure you lock up.
No excuses, no matter where you live. Nice neighborhoods are
where the burglars come, it is where the nicer stuff is. It
might be time to invest in some sort of room alarms.
Burglars hate loud noises that draw attention.

http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com/homeprotection.htm

Even an electronic barking dog may do the trick if you do
not have the real thing. Just make sure you take some
measures before it is too late.

http://www.worthprotectionsecurity.com/electronicwatchdog.htm

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to
you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection
could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth
Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your
personal well-being?

Yours in safety,

Rob Cook

Popularity: 5% [?]