Home break-in near Porter Square

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

(Not directly related, but we're so close to Davis, and I figured it was worth keeping people informed.)

Our apartment was broken into yesterday.

The officer who came by and took our statements reassured us that the odds of this particular house being hit again are pretty slim, but he also mentioned that there have been a rash of these lately in the Porter Square area, usually during the day. Often a thing where one person knocks on the front door to see if anybody's home and then either they or someone else breaks into the back. (We actually believe this break-in was at night -- the TiVo finished recording Battlestar Galactica before they unplugged it. Hell yeah.)

We live in a first-floor apartment just off Elm St. They got in through a window in the back that does not latch properly - so we didn't leave the back door open, but they didn't have to smash anything to get in either. They took a few obvious things - the Wii, my laptop, some jewelry, my gym bag. They clearly dumped a few things off shelves to see if we'd stashed any valuables behind them. Thankfully, they did not think to take the cats or the hovercraft, both which are explicitly not covered by our renter's insurance.

So, in brief:

1. Check your apartment for weak points, and if you find any, call your landlord
   
2. Put your valuables in places so completely ridiculous that nobody would think to look
   
3. If you see any shady characters poking around your neighbor's apartment, be a good neighbor and shoo them away
   
4. If you don't have it, GET RENTER'S INSURANCE.
   

Happy Hallmark Day!

(x-posting this to porter_square as well.)