Thieves are breaking into Bay Area garages using this novel technique, police warn

[Auggie]

San Francisco Chronicle / Jan 20, 2023

Police in Marin County are investigating a string of garage burglaries in which thieves use improvised tools to swipe high-end bicycles — a crime pattern that’s also surging in San Francisco.

In the course of roughly six weeks, residents of Corte Madera, Larkspur and San Anselmo reported 10 break-ins with similar elements: After casing a neighborhood, a perpetrator walked up to a garage door with a clear glass panel, punctured a hole in the glass and then deploy a rod and hook to grab the emergency cord and pull the door open.

“This is definitely more ingenious than the traditional break-in of a door, or smashing of a window,” Captain Hamid Khalili of the Central Marin Police Authority said in an interview, hours after the agency posted an advisory to warn people about the incidents.

“It’s quieter and more covert,” Khalili continued, explaining that in these instances, thieves use a makeshift stick or hanger to latch onto the cord, a method that allows them to surreptitiously gain entry and complete the whole caper within minutes, usually in the pre-dawn hours.

LINK (likely paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/garage-burglaries-bikes-17729119.php

For solid doors, thieves use a power or crank drill to cut a hole in the garage panel before sticking a rod through. Some perpetrators cut a larger hole in the metal door and simply reach in with an arm.

The link focuses on bike thefts, but anything in the garage is fair game.

[judesedit]

1. That's why I lock mine when I'm going to be gone for a couple days

Takes 2 seconds

[kysrsoze]

2. Not really novel. They have been doing this for 20 years in Chicago.

When we lived there, they would go so far as to drive into the garage door and damage it enough to make a gap so they could reach through and pull the emergency cord. I had to build a mechanism to lock that latch so it couldn’t be opened.

Thieves will do literally anything to get what they want. I’m still stunned tht they have no moral issue whatsoever with damaging and stealing other peoples’ possessions.

[Auggie]

4. Yeah. The theft of high-end pedal and e-bikes is making this bigger news.

Another trick in use for decades is to roam neighborhoods with automatic garage door openers, hoping to find devices that operate on the same signal.

If thieves can brazenly waltz into a CVS Pharmacy and steal with impunity they'll eventually do the same with your home.

I was the victim of a home robbery when I lived in a railroad flat in San Francisco. Didn't hear the guy because I was at the far end of the building, listening to music. He fled when he heard me but not before he took the money from my wallet and rifled through Mrs. Auggie's lingerie drawer. That was over 20 years ago. I'm still on edge.

[sanatanadharma]

5. Me, my and mine are the most powerful pronouns

When "I, me, my, and mine" predominate in self-identity, there is no value in ethics and morality.

[getagrip_already]

3. most garage door openers come with a "T" handle on the end of a rope...

This is a quick release that will let you open the door if the power is out.

If you take that handle off, it makes it harder for this method to work since it relies on the handle there to grab onto. They would then have to grab the cord with something with a clamp or a hand. You could also just remove the cord and hang it on a wall.

[usonian]

6. Great idea, but how about replacing the release with a decoy ...

hooked up to a very loud alarm.

Contact me if you're interested. I might need some exta income.

[getagrip_already]

7. any good motion sensor would do that......

And putting a grenade up there would be counter productive.

But I suspect they don't care about alarms. Lots of homes have motion detector alarms in their garages. They are in and out before anyone responds. They probably end up running away a lot more than ride away. But it's their job, and they will get enough rides to make it worthwhile.

But an alarm is a good idea in addition to disabling the release in a way you can still use it if needed (but they can't).

[usonian]

8. I read that thieves flee when alarms go off.

Secrets of a Superthief, 1983

[getagrip_already]

9. smash and grabs are slightly different than an iside burglar.....

I've seen videos of car smash and grabs. The thieves assume an alarm will go off, but nobody is going to react instantaneously. They have a margin of safety they work within.

I would guess that unless somebody is already on the first floor, awake and alert, they have at least 30-60 seconds of safety. That's all they need to grab an unlocked bike and ride it away.

Burglars don't know what they are after in most cases, and they have a longer route to an exit. They need more time to be successful so they just run. Smash and grab is just brute force and speed.

[mitch96]

11. "Smash and grab is just brute force and speed." I've seen vid's of how quick it is to get into

a car with a emergency window escape tool. A mechanical center punch works also. Just put it in a corner of the window and push. Some are even brazen enough to grab the back seat handle and get in the trunk for more booty..uff
m

[mitch96]

10. Excellent idea.. route the real pull chord off to one side and put the dummy in the middle..nt

[getagrip_already]

12. might as well have some fun with it....

Before you scare them off, it might be fun to "tag" them first.

You know if they are doing this, they are standing roughly in the center of the door since that is the closest point to the release latch.

So hook up a pump to a spray nozzle in the door pointing out and hit them with a wide spray of orange glitter paint with a foul smelling ester thrown in. There would be minimal cleanup/repainting needed, and it would be funny as hell.

Just an evil thought.

[mitch96]

13. Wasn't there a guy who did this to porch pirates? Loaded boxes on his door step and BOOM.

A combo glitter and stink bomb went off...
m

[Gore1FL]

14. That's Mark Rober. He has youtube videos with different versions. nt