Burglar Reveals The REAL Way To Protect Your House From Getting Robbed - (Reddit Ask Me Anything)

read it ask me anything ER mer retired cat burglar ask me anything well I quit the practice quite a while ago but perhaps I can satisfy any burning questions any of you may have questions about safety the answers to which will probably terrify you the why and how or just about anything are quite acceptable obviously I'm using a throw away for this and yes I'm using protection to helpfully keep myself safe so please be a bit understanding if I happen to be responding slower than you'd like and to answer what I know will be the single biggest question no I never got caught I quit off my own choosing after moving away and finding a decent job were you ever afraid off a homeowner with a gun that's about the only thing I was truly afraid of just out of curiosity from your point of view would a homeowner be in the right to kill you if he or she were to catch you in the act did you consider your life forfeit when you entered a home or did you never really think about the dying part eh I never did come to terms with that question and I've thought about it quite a bit over the years would they be in the right yes in my mind I don't know I considered what I was doing a do-or-die situation so I felt that what I was doing was forgivable but I don't think I would have held any grudge against a person who shot to kill to be fair though I would fall to the ground and beg and plead like a little baby at which point if I had not already been shot killing me would be considered murder yep you read that right the laws in several states including the one I was in are so few be read that shooting a person who has broken into your home that is in a position of surrender or some such nonsense is considered murder I never really worried much about it though as I've said before where I was in life at the time there wasn't much left for or aadmi my house was robbed once someone obviously showed up to the house half way through and freaked the person out because there was a whole heap of our stuff stacked at the front door they only got away with a few bits and pieces but the thing that freaked me out the most was the fact my brother's ashes were stacked on top of everything disgusting piece of whoever it was ashes I have no clue why our person would go for that unless the urn was of value I would never have done such a thing I even refused to steal wedding rings and wedding bands it wasn't even an actual learn we had only had them for two weeks so they were still in the plastic box with a sticker on the front saying what they were as weird as this is going to sound I'm glad there are good burglars out there how accurate is home alone I actually tripped on toys once the rooms curtains were drawn and the lights which was not very close to the door I didn't carry a flashlight I made hits during the day and never really needed one and when I went into the room I stepped on and broke an old Dino Ryder toy seeing that toy brought back a lot of memories and felt worse for breaking that toy than I did for breaking into and robbing the house single most expensive object stolen most stolen from one house at the same time any incidents with dogs or homeowners actually home scariest moment most expensive object a gold watch I could have grabbed a diamond wedding ring but even I had standards most stolen from one house was around $1,000 and dogs let me give you the lowdown on dogs they aren't protection or security a dog can be easily tamed usually act friendly give it a few rubs and they'll happily follow you around if that doesn't work after my first run-in with an annoying dog a small yappy dog I started carrying rawhide sticks with me that stopped them very fast also on the topic of dogs if you want a security dog get a small now dog that barks at almost everything big dogs may look scary but considering most people don't like the chance of their dog turning on them the dogs are either very tame or chained up small dogs however bark a lot those were the only ones I was ever worried about even then as I said a stick or two opera hide and they were down for the count scariest moment I tried climbing up on a deck roof to get in an open win and slipped I caught myself and I was only on the first floor roof but my heart was pounding that entire hit as it had never been in any other apparently the best security animals are geese will start honking at anything and can't be bribed the fact that a person had a flock of geese in their home to begin with would probably scare off most crooks how close did you come to being caught in the act ever leave any incriminating evidence behind the closest was passing by a police car as they were going to the house I was a few blocks away at the time I was never really close to being caught but the question of it was always there I would usually be in and out in under five minutes evidence no none that I can think of I was never caught so I guess I didn't leave anything incriminating if I did forget something burglaries don't tend to be solved it's just not worth the police's time unless the homeowner catches you in the act or the police just happened to see you climb through the window then you're likely to get away with it the house I live in with my boyfriend was broken into and most of our stuff stolen about a year ago and it was seriously one of the most traumatic events of my life we're college kids and lost pretty much everything we owned of any value I still have trouble sleeping at night and have had to install alarms on everything I just can't believe a human being could do that to another human we're all in this thing together just trying to get by no questions just wanted to Beach I'm glad you stopped though cheers to your new job and hope that goes well and you never feel inclined to return to the lifestyle I'm going to give you the best advice for home security you will ever get window laminate alarms dogs all up to either useless or reactionary the only thing that ever really shut me down were laminated windows a crooks biggest weapon is speed and their biggest enemy as time if somebody were to try to break into your home and ended up hitting a window that was laminated they would in almost every case run off it isn't even all that expensive especially since you only need to laminate the first floor windows and any windows on a first-floor roof on a two-story house such as a porch or deck roof don't waste money on alarms or dogs spend it on good window laminate put in by professionals and you will be much safer nice try window laminate sales guy so that's what his new job is how easy was it for you to enter targeted houses what were your techniques it was very easy my method of entering was usually to find a decent backyard window and break it entering through there I had secured hello duct tape a sharp rock to an elbow guard and would just hit the window the worst times were when I forgot my gloves and had no way of opening the window you'll be amazed at how many windows are painted shut all were never meant to open to begin with I had a pair of heavy mesh gloves to clear away glass at those times and if I forgot them and couldn't find another means of clearing the glass quickly I'd abhorred the attempt I'd kind of pity those people more than the ones I actually robbed because they would come home to a broken window and that was it rather insulting I'd think furthermore they'd spend the rest of their lives wondering just what it was you sterile how many time are we talking here where you forgot your gloves seems like gloves would be pretty high up the list of items you're gonna need to go out cat burglar ring not many over the year and a half I was active I think it only happened twice but this whole or weirdest thing you saw still in a house X the weirdest thing I ever saw was somebody who apparently collected those wooden Indian statues from outside cigar shops they had more than I care to count I cannot tell you how creepy it is to be in a house with those things lurking in the shadows staring at you that particular house actually scared me a bit because I kept jumping thinking the statues were a person a statue would be in a random corner and I would see it and my heart would start racing my biggest hole probably around $1,000 I never went for electronics just quick and easy portables or cash what's quick and easy portables and where did you look for cash quick and easy portables are jewelry for the most part but I drew the line at wedding rings and wedding bands I never stole a person's wedding rings I would look for cash on kitchen counters near the coffee pot as well in the cupboards near it around the area where keys were hung in jars and boxes especially ones on the upper shelves of bore cases in bedrooms and bathrooms on vanities and in the clothing drawers under beds under mattresses under lamps yet quite a few people hid cash under lamp pedestals and just about anywhere that there didn't seem to be much collected dust but was a small enclosure small drawers and cabinets yes I would take a glance at the level of dust in the house to get an idea for the well-traveled areas I generally didn't bother with a safe though a lot of crooks do if they have a vehicle available but since I had to hoof it lugging around a safe would be a bit too obvious that's all you muster breaking into houses only to steal minor jewelry and change I don't understand how is this less than one thousand dollars worth risking your life record he mentioned that prison was not a relatively great disincentive for him as three meals a day and a place to sleep was more than he thought he would have been able to attain without stealing at that time exactly how many caps have you burgled I've never burgled any cats but if you count the dogs I bribed it's probably in the 3040 range I never actually stole them though just bribes we talk in doggy treats or horse tranquilizers here browse key rawhide sticks actually it was easy to fit quite a few in a pocket and they would satisfy pretty much every dog no kidding my mom always told me a dog's the best burglar alarm you'll ever have guess she was wrong the best alarm you can have his emotion triggered hidden camera I would suggest one that is embedded in a clock radio that records to an onboard SSD not many crooks are going to take what looks like a $10 farm clock otherwise for protection get window laminate that is one of the only true security systems that actually works a hidden camera to catch your masked face there's more information available than just the face but the face is the biggest chance in catching a person height weight race all of these are picked up by a camera which can be a big help yay baby that camera next in my bed it's for burglars did you ever carry a weapon with you had you considered using it or threatening to use it when given the opportunity did you steal during the day night and did you study the houses in their occupants carefully to avoid confrontations I had a pocket knife with a 3-inch blade but that wouldn't have done much as a weapon against somebody in their home it was mostly for cutting a screen or similar situations I wouldn't have used it though as a weapon if I had ever encountered a person I would have just ran my hit's were during the day usually around 10:00 or 2 people were at work and it was either before or after lunch night hits are only in movies books and jailed thieves people are home at night and far too many people have guns I never made a night hit and never wanted to as first a being not usually I might make a part and then come back an hour or two later but I usually just kept my eye out for obvious signs of nobody at home no cars no movement no flickering TV computer etc the times I did do studies was usually when the houses were near parks and I could watch for a bit longer without making people suspicious even then though I usually just watched the kitchen if I could for an hour or so were there things that you looked for that made you select a property also how did you offload hot items did you have a fence or random sales how does that work no cars in the drive or on the street plenty of windows on the garage to check for cars inside large windows on the front of the house easy to see inside - case no flickering TV computer no music signs of a decent person well manicured lawn well tended flowers and a clean sidewalk and drive it's 10:00 a.m. you're probably at work and an enclosed back yard seriously the worst thing you can do other than leaving everything wide open with signs announcing it is having an enclosed back yard I realize I edited my comment and probably didn't catch you in time but would you fill me in on the off loading question how did you offload hot items did you have a fence or random sales how does that work sorry for the name Joe idiot I was trying to ask original questions P offloading was usually to a pawn shop or in the paper I would hold on to the physical items for a few weeks to a month before putting them out usually I went for cash and yes I admit this piggy banks generally though pawnshops exists that will buy your stuff without asking questions I didn't always get the best prices for the stuff because of that but when the choice is mediocre poor price and no questions or good price and questions you try to avoid the latter were you ever nervous they would see your face and then later trace the items back to you as in they find items and somehow discover you on film later or somesuch from the shop where you often just a nervous wreck I would be duck I'd be sick constantly worrying that I was facing prison time every day I woke up with one more what did you buy with the money I always had a must when I broke into the houses so I wasn't afraid of being caught on home cameras as for being traced and court I was never worried I've mentioned that at that point in my life it was do or die to me spending time in prison would have been better than the life I was living Prison gives you three hots and a cot meaning three meals in a dry place to sleep I was living in a slum apartment at the time most of the money went to keeping myself alive the rest I saved up until I could get out of that apartment into a decent place where I was able to get an actual job honest question I am armed but if I encountered a thief I would order them to stop and attempt to force their compliance I'd react based on their actions from their escalation only when merited would you be likely to comply if you were startled by an armed owner screaming at you to comply or reject the risk of getting hit on and not caring about you firing and just run instead for effect if it matters it's an N for not sure if you would even care if they had a gun I'd do exactly as they said if it was a Malay weapon and they were not blocking the exit I try to escape any type of firearm would turn me into a blubbering wreck though but do not think the Sansa goes for everybody plenty of crooks will try to escape or defend themselves if you catch a person breaking into your home and you have a gun shoot twice to kill do not attempt to apprehend them or stop them if you do not intend to kill them if you want to do that just hide and call the police if you are going to confront somebody who has broken into your home you do so with only one conviction one of us is leaving this house dead any other reaction to a confrontation is a full gambit ro you made it to the end you're ducking beasts thanks for watching mate make sure to smash that like button and subscribe for more high quality content

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Keywords: reddit, askreddit, askreddit funny, top posts, top posts of r/, r/, r/askreddit, reddit top posts, reddit compilation, top posts of all time, askreddit question, askreddit top posts, ask reddit, askreddit reading, subreddit, reddit stories, best of r/askreddit, funny reddit, best reddit posts, best of reddit, reddit ama, ask me anything, reddit ask me anything, r/IAmA, cat burglar, burglar, burgler, robber, stealer, house burgler

Id: Kg8e9AQ-bNs

Length: 16min 31sec (991 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 12 2019