Home invasion in Groves, Texas

[MoJo]

Watch your back the BG can sneak up on you.



http://www.panews.com/local/local_story_201195333.html

Local attorney victim of robbery


Mary Meaux
The Port Arthur News

GROVES —
Melvin and Karon Boneau can count themselves lucky, although they are the victims of a Friday morning home burglary.


The couple was awakened by a noise inside their home about 12:30 a.m. Friday in the 5000 block of Sunken Court.

Melvin Boneau, a local attorney, investigated the source of the noise, but did not see anything so he went to his study and sat down. While there, he picked up his .45 caliber handgun, which he is licensed to carry, his wife said, and made a few more passes through the home.

Melvin, 68, had taken only a few steps from his living room when a man came from behind and pinned his arms to his side.

“He told Melvin ‘give me the gun old man, give me the gun,’� Karon said via telephone Friday afternoon. “Then I heard him call out to me. They were struggling and he (Melvin) told me to run.�

Karon, 49, said she raced to the master bathroom from where she called 9-1-1. While on the phone, she said she could hear her husband scuffling with the intruder.

As Karon was calling for help, the suspect was beating her husband in the neck and head. The intruder then took the gun from Melvin, pointed it at the attorney’s head, and had him lead him out of the home.

The police arrived soon after, but the suspect and an accomplice who was outside the home during the struggle had already left.

“It’s obvious they did not want to kill us or hurt us,� she said of the burglary turned aggravated robbery. “When I ran into the room I saw the attacker, we looked at each other face-to-face. If he had not wanted witnesses he could have chased me down, kicked in the bathroom door and killed me.�

The Boneau’s have an alarm system and surveillance video shows the two suspects.

“The surveillance video shows they were in our house for 30 minutes before Melvin heard any noise,� she said.

Groves Police Det. Kevin White said the video proves there were two suspects.

Both are black males who appear to range in age from early to mid 20's. The one who attacked the home owner was dressed in a black muscle shirt and black shorts while the other had on a light colored muscle shirt and light colored shorts. They both fled on foot, taking with them the home owner's pistol as well as a laptop computer, DVD player, camera and jewelry, White said.

Melvin, who suffered from meningitis as a child and has chronic back problems, suffered severe bruising, a busted upper lip, sore back and numerous cuts and abrasions, his wife said.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact the Groves Police Department at 962-0244 or EasTex Crime Stoppers at 724-8477.

[Venus Pax]

The home security system didn't do much for them.

[ScubaSigGuy]

The home security system didn't do much for them.

I read this last night and was thinking the same thing. I doubt most security systems would really stop a professional criminal. In my mind they are there to delay entry and buy time so that they might be seen by a neighbor, passerby etc...

What got me is that he had his gun in his study instead of in his bedroom. It's a good thing that he wasn't seriously hurt.

[MoJo]

The home security system didn't do much for them.

Well it got pictures of both BGs and the cops have the ID of one perp.

I personally have a multi sensor, full sweep, multiple annunciator, K9 system that is very reliable and cuddley too!

[Drifter]

The home security system didn't do much for them.

I read this last night and was thinking the same thing. I doubt most security systems would really stop a professional criminal.

Seems like something missing from the story. Most, if not all, home security systems I've seen, if activated correctly, will sound off immediately when a door or window is opened. Of course they let you by-pass zones if you want to sleep with a window open, which kind of compromises the whole idea.

[T3hK1w1]

They are very fortunate that the BGs seemed to be rational people insofar as avoiding violence. That said, watch the shadows!!!

[para driver]

they need a yippy dog..

[shaggydog]

The home security system didn't do much for them.

I read this last night and was thinking the same thing. I doubt most security systems would really stop a professional criminal.

Seems like something missing from the story. Most, if not all, home security systems I've seen, if activated correctly, will sound off immediately when a door or window is opened. Of course they let you by-pass zones if you want to sleep with a window open, which kind of compromises the whole idea.

My guess is that the system was not armed. I would venture that a sizable percentage of homeowners with security systems only arm them when they leave the house. This is only my gut (and a sizable one it is) instinct as I have no statistical evidence to back up the assumption.

[fadlan12]

k9 is the missing ingredient here. I can't quantify how many burglars my dog may have detered.

[anygunanywhere]

The security system might not have been a monitored system.

Even if it was not monitored it should have alerted them to the intruders. Even if a moitored system call-out feature is somehow defeated, the installed audible alarms should have been activated. My neighbors know when I test mine.

I test all of the sensors when I test our system. All windows and doors. The alarm company reads off the test record of the sensors to me when I test the system. Their monitoring system can see when I open and close each window and door.

We arm ours every night in the stay mode. What good is an alarm system if it is not used? If the victim's system had been armed I doubt if the intruders would have stuck around.

Anygun

[Rabbit]

I am just glad that they are safe.

It could have been a really diff story.

I worked in security systems for 3 years for high profile clients. Its a fact that many people do not set there alarms at night. Which is a complete waste of time.

Dogs are great a putting some BG's off but if they really want in then nothing will stop them.

I once went to a break in. When I got there the police where still there and when i walked into the house the dog was laid out on the living room carpet in a pool of blood. The intruders has drugged the dog and then gained access. After they got in they stabbed the dog over 40 times and then robbed the house.

Its one thing to steal from someone but to also kill there animals is sick. people like these who invade peoples privacy and take there possesions should be strung up.

[fadlan12]

Well they may be able to get in but I but my dog will let me know.

[fratermus]

While there, he picked up his .45 caliber handgun, which he is licensed to carry, his wife said, and made a few more passes through the home.

I wonder if the public will misinterpret this to mean one requires a license to carry in one's own home.