Two break-ins, same individuals each time, ten days apart. They walked in through my apartment complex building's unsecured front door. Then kicked in my apartment door, and since my neighbors are not the type to notice loud banging, nothing was done until my roommate got back home and noticed the break-in.
Police were called, and I had no idea what exactly to report as missing except for the obvious because I had not done an inventory before hand, never thought I had to.
They got two netbooks, three gaming systems, a guitar, a LARGE collection of video-games, an air soft rifle, stole bags, including a laundry bag, for their loot, a machete, the living room television and just left.
The second time ten days later they stole the netbook they had missed in their haste to get in, shop, and then leave the first time, and a bunch of empty very heavy game cases. Funny story about that, since my game collection is so large, that is likely why they came back because they could not get all the games the first time due to lack of bags.
I emptied more than a hundred plus games cases and put them into a DVD binder I hid under some stuff in a box in a closet. They dragged the plastic bin full of empty game cases wherever they took my stuff and probably got laughed at by the clerks about the whole endeavor as they opened empty case, after case, and were left fuming.
I had to destroy the collectors value of my stuff to save it, but in the end, it was worth it due to the lessons learned from the first break-in and second.
The apartment complex did not repair the broken bottom lock after the first break-in, and the deadbolt failed due to being cheap because the actual door frame itself is metal during the second break-in. They got in easily enough with a few kicks because I did not lock both locks.
But due to how the cheap the locks were the first time around, both would have been destroyed, which might have made things better for me due to what I did the day after the second break-in.
I got metal plates that fit around each door frame where the locks are, and got the best damn locks you can buy, and installed everything myself.
The complex had put in poles for security cameras about a month before my place was hit. But to date, five months later, no cameras have been installed, and the front door to the entryway is never going to get a lock due to "complaints" from residents about having to come and let guests in.
Right, right, moving along in my story.
They came back a third time and I saw the assholes that broke into my neighbor Craig's place upstairs on the second floor. I was sitting at home, I was off that day, on my PC, they did not take my desktop with a few hundred dollars worth of computer parts in it, even with depreciated value this rig of mine with the HD monitors can sell for over five hundred, because they only wanted easy to sell stuff.
These guys are not the brightest due to the whole not checking the game cases before leaving with them thinking they had an easy pre-sorted haul.
Anyway, I heard a loud bang like a door being slammed. My bullshit senses were in full alert, and have been since the whole mess. I was dressed because I wanted carryout damn it and I was going to walk to get it.
A second bang and I immediately grabbed a camera and phone and thought to myself, police then apartment office, so I opened the door to the hallway, and peeped around the corner. Lo and behold its a neighborhood kid, he is in his early twenties, but I watched this asshole grow up over the last seven years, going on eight now, I have lived here with no problems.
Dude peeps me peeping him and decides to split with his buddy after I walk back to my apartment. I missed the backyard/frontyard Olympics portion of this mess. We have wooden railings that they had to have scaled over to get away as fast as they did around each of the three walkways that lead to the front doors of the apartment units.
The idiots, I knew they were dumb, came back towards my side of the street and walked down the sidewalk like nothing was wrong to the corner. But, that is not all, not only I saw the second guy, the door kicker himself with his dreadlocks I was familiar with because I have seen him hanging around as well over the years.
My neighbor from across the street split off from the two when they came from around the back of the apartment complex together and walked right-to-his-front porch.
Damn son, damn.
You dun goofed.
I go and see the damage to Craig's door, luckily I scared them off without them having time to go into the apartment. The apartment manager drives over and says "I was right about to leave" no shit lady which is why I called as fast as I did so you could get Craig back home and in his place to guard his stuff before it vanishes!
So, I meet Craig for the first time when he rushes home, his job is threatening to fire him due to this personal emergency, so I spend forty minutes talking with an older woman and her daughter who live upstairs.
They explained the history of the apartment complex to me. Mostly old people lived there, the front doors to the vestibules were functional with locks and everything. They died, younger, foolish, tenants moved in, broke the locks continuously until the apartment managers stopped replacing the keys and locks and etc.
This was before I moved in, and it only makes sense considering today's youth, and I am not that old myself, but anyway.
Craig comes home, offers to reward me for my being a decent human being, a reward I never wanted, and never see anyway.
I gave the cop that showed up to the Craig incident the info I knew. Then I started to study my memories of the area and the people I have seen often over the years. And also plan to reinforce the security of my place.
Five months later, my front door is unable to be kicked in, I use a doorstop at night when I am home, my insurance claim finally went through and I am going to replace my netbook, one game system, and the television and bit by bit replace the games lost from my collection.
Thankfully, a lot of console third-party publishers are doing PC re-releases/releases, so I purchased Final Fantasy XIII on Steam last year, going to pick up part two and three this year, and I mostly have became a PC and portable gamer due to this mess.
TLDNR?
Small time local drug dealers broke in, organized gangs do not target civilians depending on the gang due to bringing heat to their operational area, twice, stole my stuff, came back a third time to hit a neighbor, I saw them, they know I know who they are, and now are no longer hanging around the area and stick to alleys and streets a few blocks down. I secured my front door better, installed cameras too, use a doorstop at night when home as well just in case, and generally am chill about the experience, mostly, due to insurance paying off.