First Place: B. Richardson: Neighborhood thieves recorded by security cameras
The videos I am sending in seem initially insignificant. It just looks like a Dodge Magnum pulling in my driveway, a woman walking to the front door, knocking and then leaving. A couple of weeks later, however, my wife and I found out there had been a string of burglaries in the area, where a woman would walk to the front door and knock. If no one answered, another person would jump out of the car and kick in the door. They would then burglarize the home. I immediately contacted detectives at the local Sheriff’s office. I made a copy of the video and gave it to detectives. They were very impressed with the quality of the video and now had a picture of the suspect’s vehicle and the female burglar.
The images of both were given out to law enforcement officers in the area with a "Be On the Look Out". Within a week, the suspect’s vehicle was observed by a deputy and a car chase ensued. After a 120 mph chase, the Sheriff shot at the suspect’s vehicle ending the chase and officers apprehended the suspects and recovered almost all of the stolen property from dozens of burglaries in six counties found in a stash house in a nearby county.
Thanks to the video, the suspects were also charged with attempted burglary of my home and burglary of my neighbors home--my neighbors home was burglarized first. The detective told me that when he interviewed the female suspect, he showed her the video and she confessed to all the crimes and admitted to looking up and seeing one my cameras and that was the reason they did not kick in the door and commit the burglary of my home.
In December I received a subponea for both of the suspects trial, I never had to testify because the video did all the talking, both pled guilty and were convicted of all the burglaries and ONE ATTEMPT, and are now in prison. I wanted to wait until their conviction before submitting this story to show it truly was a success. Thanks Logitech for such an affordable and innovative product that continues to serve me and my family (and on at least one occassion thousands of people that live in the surrounding area) to protect my home, give me peace of mind, and able to assist law enforcement in the capture and conviction of criminals. I can’t wait to get the new High Definition system.
A couple of links to the news story: WSBTV News and WSBTV NEWS, car chase.
|