A business owner who asked to remain unnamed wanted us to let our readers know that in the early hours of Thursday, April 19, his video surveillance camera was disconnected and stolen. It stopped recording about 4:30 a.m. The business owner writes:
I guess he sets his alarm, eats a hearty breakfast, then goes out and steals cameras. … We’ve turned the video over to the police. He moves on foot and I bet he’s visited other homes or businesses in the early morning hours.
Although the business wasn’t broken into, he wanted to warn fellow business owners and home dwellers about this tactic that could result in a theft.
The business is located in the Lake City Way/15th Avenue Northeast business district, where we’ve also heard that three safes recently were stolen from other businesses, including the new and still-uninhabited Eagles Mother Aerie One building at 8201 Lake City Way N.E.
And don’t forget the break-in almost exactly a year ago at the Maple Leaf Grill, 8929 Roosevelt Way N.E., where thieves cut the phone lines and other wiring to keep the alarm from going off.
Business owners and residents, stay vigilant!
Cameras are fine as a part of a layered anitheft system, even in residential homes. If you have a security system with wireless backup in case phone lines are cut, and cameras, and whatever else, it makes your business or home slightly less appealing than the one next door without these features. Even if cut, however, cameras can usually offer some evidence to help the police.