Home invasion advice

[Millerk420]

This might not be the correct place for this and I apologize in advance if so. But I felt like this is a area everyone looks and I need a little advice.

This last Memorial day weekend a close friend and his family went to Dallas for a Baseball tourney for his 12 year old son. They returned on Sunday to find their home broken into. The house was tossed they spray painted the walls broke things and stole lots of electronics. They have a 1 month old baby and the babies room was untouched, oddly enough. Very disturbing as they live only a few streets over from us. Anyway many of the tags in the house are of "MOOSE GANG" and "BLOOD LIFE". Which according to the police is a gang in Longview but the tags were wrong, they aren't how they tag. Here is the kicker, I did a little research on some of the boys that they have invited into their home and one who came by Friday as they were packing is related to another boy who claims on Facebook to be in the Moose Gang and a blood. He wears a red bandana and even has pictures of all the Moose Gang members. Also the Moose gang boys live 4-5 duplexes down the street from this family. Now ... should i take this to the police to possibly investigate or is this too circumstantial to be used? I mean we aren't a bad neighbor hood but these duplexes are low renters and a bit trashy this is a street where you have a 150000 dollar home on a corner then across the street you have a duplex.. in this case about 20 down the rest of the road. Anyway, can the police do anything with this info. The kid has a picture of himself with what looks like a Walther PPK (maybe airsoft) and he is 15.

I don't want to step on anyone's toes in the investigation and i don't want to tell the guy in the family for fear he might do something about it. because there is more to the story they have an estranged 19 year old son, who, "conveniently" showed up on Sunday, no one called him, and he was the first to point out the gang tags and maybe he is trying to throw them off him by tagging the house. Also .. the babies room, his brothers room.. untouched.. it just doesn't make a lot of sense..

they pulled a lot of prints but they had ONE officer working the scene and he got no help or back up... no CSI no detectives.. real life is nothing like the movies..

also can the police question and finger print these gang members?

[Teamless]

If you feel that your information may be credible, I see no issue in passing it on to the PD.
If the PD then does not see a connection, or a legal way to talk with the supposed gang member(s), then they felt unjustified in doing so, but don't let that be your decision, make it theirs.
Also, as you discuss this with them, I would have screen shots of their facebook information, as your "evidence"
Lastly, I would go to the PD and talk with a detective, do not call them to come to you.

[steveincowtown]

Lastly, I would go to the PD and talk with a detective, do not call them to come to you.

Very, very sage advice.

[thr_wedge]

Home invasion is generally used when people are home. This appears to be a burglary.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

It would seem best to give any evidence you have to the LEO's and let them work the case.

Many times the victims of crimes complain that the PD is not letting them know anything about
the details of their investigations.

This could be because nothing is really happening. But I saw a LEO's comment in the paper that
the LEO's keep an investigation's details to themselves to prevent the victims from conducting their
own operations. This alerts the perps about what's going on, and the victims may decide to take
revenge, possibly upon the wrong people.

My advice to you personally is to take all security precautions in your own home, keep your gun and
CHL on you, as well as extra ammo on your person.

If you ever come home and find it broken into, call 911 from outside the house, and let the LEO's clear
the home.

SIA

[Millerk420]

yeah i will screenshot the kids facebook and take it to the PD. Yeah my friend has no weapons in the house only airsoft, that got stolen and when they came home both him and his 12 year old walked through the house. really dumb. I appreciate the advice.
Yes this was a robbery not an invasion i wasn't thinking - and yeah I don't want to tell the guy in case he does try to go confront them. I will let you know what happens.

[Running Arrow Bill]

Document, document, document!

Every tiny bit of evidence is one more part of the puzzle to the LEO. Definitely talk to a "Detective", not just a street cop. IMO, since the kid's room was not bothered, it "appears" that someone "close to home" may be the UNSUB. Just because someone is a "neighbor" doesn't rule them out...

Whoever the UNSUB(s) might be, there is significant $$ damage. If they are juveniles, then their parents could be held responsible. Otherwise, hopefully the victim had insurance against burgalry & vandalism.

Keep on LEO's until something is resolved...could take days, weeks, or months. One event may be part of a pattern that composes the big picture in other investigations.

Never assume one's information is "not significant"...

The crime could be a revenge event, implicate a rival event, bored teenager event, or any number of reasons...including drug related bad guys/girls.

JMHO

[TDDude]

.... because there is more to the story they have an estranged 19 year old son, who, "conveniently" showed up on Sunday, no one called him, and he was the first to point out the gang tags and maybe he is trying to throw them off him by tagging the house. Also .. the babies room, his brothers room.. untouched.. it just doesn't make a lot of sense..

That's the kicker right there. The son is involved. He knows who it is. He either owed money to some guys, is mad at the family and wants to get back or something along those lines.

Tell the police what you suspect. If they have half a brain, they'll be looking at the son. Of course if they have time to do anything more than simply take a confession.

I really doubt you're going to have any issues in your house.

[philip964]

It is a close friend, not you that it happened to. So:

Be a friend help him clean up, console him. Help him repaint. If you have evidence give it to him. Let him decide what to do with it.

Don't volunteer information about a suspicious son to the police.

Suggest he get a monitored alarm. Maybe a concealed video camera system in case it happens again.

Double key extended dead bolt locks on all exterior doors, locks on all windows. Take the inside key and hide it when you leave for more than a few hours. They also make a long strike extender which helps hold the door jamb together better, for kick burglerys. You make it harder so they go somewhere else. Make them have to leave the way they got in.

If he has serial numbers of the items that were stolen that will help with the recovery (if he really wants the stuff back). He may want to identify the new items with one of those etchers.

Your suggestions should be as polite as can be, most people don't like, need or want advice.

The fact the police actually took finger prints is a pretty big deal. That's usually reserved for murders.

My two cents.

[rubiconjp]

When my Jeep was broken into in Hayward CA, the local PD came with crime scene van and did the prints.

All good advices on this board.

[bigred90gt]

When my Jeep was broken into in Hayward CA, the local PD came with crime scene van and did the prints.

All good advices on this board.

That's interesting. when my truck was broken into, I asked the PD about doing prints, and was told that they do not print vehicles just for burglary. I forget the exact reason, something about too many prints from people who are supposed to be there, or overlaying prints that they cannot get a good ID on.

[Excaliber]

Vandalism unrelated to damage done to access and remove stolen items is very unusual in a burglary, and "tagging" is much rarer still. The reason is that they don't benefit the perp, and they take extra time inside which unnecessarily increases the risk of getting caught.

In my experience, these things are usually done by people who either have a serious personal issue with the homeowners, or by those who are known to the owners (sometimes even the owners themselves in insurance fraud cases) and who want to create what they think a stranger to stranger burglary scene looks like to throw off investigators. The giveaway is that they have only TV experience to go by, and what you see on TV is not what we see in real life. An example of this type of crime would be a "burglary" (actually an attempted insurance fraud) I investigated where every picture frame was smashed - but all the hard to replace family photos had been removed first.

Since you have a vested interest in the safety of your neighborhood, I concur with the advice to bring your information to the attention of a detective who is working on the investigation rather than passing it on to the victim. The detective knows a lot more about the case than you do, and will more than likely be quite happy with what you can contribute, especially if it turns out to be the link that can bring the case to closure.

[mamabearCali]

I second everything above with one thing to add. My husband and I do not want an alarm company to have access to our home (too big brother like and give us the creeps). However I saw an "alarm system" at Costco that you install and it video equipment that can stream live to the internet (a friend of mine has this and it works quite well!). If it was me--and some punk had broken into my friends house I would offer to help them harden their doors/windows, and install this system so that if it happens again--you got-em. Your i-phone/text message goes off and you know to check the house cameras and there are the ugly mugs of the scallywags that broke in.

[Scott in Houston]

I second everything above with one thing to add. My husband and I do not want an alarm company to have access to our home (too big brother like and give us the creeps). However I saw an "alarm system" at Costco that you install and it video equipment that can stream live to the internet (a friend of mine has this and it works quite well!). If it was me--and some punk had broken into my friends house I would offer to help them harden their doors/windows, and install this system so that if it happens again--you got-em. Your i-phone/text message goes off and you know to check the house cameras and there are the ugly mugs of the scallywags that broke in.

Not to go too far in a tangent, but what do you mean "have access to our home"?

We have our house monitored. The alarm goes off, and they call the house. If we don't answer, they call the police then me on my cell and ask if we want to call off the police. It's awesome.
No one has "access to our home".

Also, if I'm home, and it goes off. They call, I answer and give a code phrase and it's all clear. If they ask for the phrase and I don't say it, they will send the police.

Personally, I find it AMAZING that people actually go without an alarm system of some type. I think people are nuts to not at least have a system like you're describing from CostCo, but I think having it monitored is well worth it.

[fulano]

When my Jeep was broken into in Hayward CA, the local PD came with crime scene van and did the prints.

All good advices on this board.

That's interesting. when my truck was broken into, I asked the PD about doing prints, and was told that they do not print vehicles just for burglary. I forget the exact reason, something about too many prints from people who are supposed to be there, or overlaying prints that they cannot get a good ID on.

When my Suburban was broken into, I expected the LEO to do the same thing....look for prints, question neighbors in the complex (gated with 24/7 guard). He just looked at me and asked if I knew how many Suburbans were broken into every day in Houston...it was a rhetorical question.