By Brandon at concealdnation.org

While a home surveillance system is a great tool to help deter crime and make your home safer, it’s never going to stop every criminal looking to break in. One homeowner found this out the hard way after a criminal broke into her home while she was there. The whole incident was caught on 16 different cameras . . .

The incident happened Tuesday night, and the homeowner awoke to a noise outside of her home. She reached for her phone which has an app connected to her surveillance cameras. Once opened, she saw a man trying to break into her home. Then, as he makes it inside, she watches helplessly on her phone while hiding in a closet for over 10 minutes while the man went through her belongings.

After breaking in, the house alarm went off, but was of no deterrence to the criminal. He continues to casually walk through the home.

While on the phone with 911, the homeowner was whispering to tell the operator what was happening. Then, she hears the intruder try to open the door to her bedroom. Out of options, she runs up to the door before he opens it and begins banging on it as hard as she can and starts yelling; “Get out of here, the police are coming. They’re going to shoot you.”

Police arrived to the home 14 minutes after the call to 911 was made. Had this criminal not taken off when confronted, this story could have ended much differently. That’s an eternity when waiting for help.

What does the homeowner take away from this scary incident?

She immediately bought a gun.

Despite having 16 surveillance cameras, she has has since put in new locks and bought a gun to protect herself. But she can’t shake knowing the person who so brazenly burst into her home in the middle of the night is still out there.

Good for her. It’s unfortunate that it took an experience like this for her to make the change, but now she is better protected in case something like this were to happen again.

Now, get out to a range with your new firearm and practice.

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58 COMMENTS

  1. I’m actually impressed they reported that she armed herself.
    I’m glad that she managed to learn why we keep saying “When seconds count..” without getting hurt.

    • From the clip it appears that GMA saw fit _not_ to report that she had armed herself: “Oh, they’ll catch him, his face is all over social media.” Like that will protect her.

  2. Dogs. A few big dogs around and that guy wouldn’t have done that. I have cameras, dogs and guns.
    My word for scum-bags, come try it.
    If they try it when I’m here and get in, they’ll leave in a Ziploc.

    • I’ve seen big dogs give strangers big sloppy kisses or roll over and expect a belly rub. I wouldn’t rely on something that can be bought over with a $1 bag of bacon strips. I like small dogs because they tend to be super loud when strangers are near, giving me advanced warning.

      • Oh sure sure. Everyone’s seen something some time. But I have four well trained dogs and one who watches my security monitor. It doesn’t have to be big dogs, but big dogs are more threatening. Face it, noise is noise, but if someone isn’t scared of a noisy ankle-biter, maybe they’d be more afraid of some larger dogs that could seriously chew your ass up. My dog that watches my monitor, she would NOT let you in my house, I guarantee that! She would bite you.
        That guy was brazen enough to enter that house with the alarm going off, but if there was 100 LBS German Shepard in the yard or house, or a Chow, he wouldn’t be doing that.

        • Define “well-trained.” Simple obedience training means nothing. Unless the dog is a trained guard/attack dog, you cannot be sure of its actions under time of stress.

          I have extensive experience with aggressive dogs. It takes a certain kind of canine personality to be naturally willing to bite a stranger, even when protecting a home, and an even more particular kind to be willing to press the attack. The downside is that dogs that have that personality, and who do not have specific guard/attack training are frequently a danger to innocent people as well. Do you want a dog that will maul the postman? Been there. It’s not a fun situation.

          The average family dog, even a big, seemingly fierce one, has a natural inclination, born through centuries, if not millenia, of breeding, to back down in the face of human aggression. The exceptions need very special training to be safe and reliable guard dogs.

        • Or maybe you could take responsibility for your own safety and get a firearm…..so after the dogs/alarm/locks/police fail, you still have a weapon…..

      • There was a hilarious video of this in the reality show “It Takes A Thief.” The guy breaks into the home and the pet dog, which the husband had bought to be a guard dog, goes up to him with its tail wagging, and he’s all friendly-acting with it. Then he proceeds to rob the place, and invites the dog along, who happily jumps into the truck with him 😀

      • Better a big dog that gives sloppy kisses than a little yappy dog that is constantly annoying. Incessant yapping triggers my Weimaraner’s Hunter/killer instinct. I’m not sure I blame her.

        • Big dogs are great, unless someone really wants in. Plenty of ways to put em down quietly, without you ever waking up. And no, I’m not talking about using a silencer.

      • What you need is a Pit Bull or two. The types that break into your house know their reputation and won’t mess with them

        • What, that they’ll lick your face off? “Aggressiveness” has nothing to do with the breed, and everything to do with how it’s raised/treated.

          This stuff annoys me as much as the .9mm, 20,000fps, airline killer, cop exploder with the thing that goes up nonsense.

      • Dogs and parrots. We have what I call a three stage defense system. Two African gray parrots live out back on the porch. Those birds know when someone is 100 feet away even though they can’t see them. If that person gets to close to the gate they have an alarm squak that the dogs are finely tuned in to. This sets off the 3 small to medium dogs. That in turn alerts the well armed occupant’s in the house. Home invasion here would be particularly dangerous for the invaders.

      • Well trained most of the time doesn’t make a difference. Your average crook is going to pick what they perceive as an easy target. If they hear a big dog bark, why tangle with the chance when they can go to the dogless neighbors. If he does choose to break in; the barking will give the heads up before the crook gets inside.

  3. I won’t be completely surprised to find out that the burglar gets caught by boasting about his time on TV.

    • The way things go these days, he’ll probably comment that it’s him, on her facebook, so that he can get more “likes”.

  4. Having sold security systems years ago I know you need some firepower. Lots of people opted to just get a “protectedby” sign. Or motion sensors. Or a dog…I prefer a shotgun being chambered…look at Sandra Bullock cowering in a closet. I guess all the tough-gal act was an ACT.

    • Cowering ? Without a gun, what should she have done ?

      For that matter, with a gun what should she have done ? Clear the house?

      • Well, for starters she could have said “the police are coming and I have a gun. Open this door and I shoot!” and not been bluffing.

        Having a gun doesn’t mean you have to – or should – clear the house. It does mean you have an option when retreat isn’t.

      • AHEM…Bullock is RICH(200million!). She can afford security AND ARMED GUARDS. I like her as an actress but DAMN that is halfazzed.

    • I think she has every right to be afraid. Given who she is and where she is it’s unlikely that she’d ever be able to give herself permission to arm herself. For her sake I wish she had been armed, however.

  5. Yeah, we just installed a Lorex 8-camera system but… best this is going to do is help alert you if you’re not there, and identify what went down after the fact.

    14 minutes huh…. guess that’s reasonable. I remember some anti screaming, “Get rid of your guns, spend that money on a security system that’s wired into your local police station.” – First of all, it doesn’t work that way, second, well… 14 minutes.

    In a rural area like where I am, more like 30.

    • I was a cop in the mid 90’s . Granted, times have changed but alarm monitoring hasn’t really all that much. It’s still wired in to the phone line or now, internet and then goes to a monitoring center. Once activated, a technician then calls the local PD that’s associated with the alarm. There are so many things that can go wrong with the process that one day, just to test it; we purposely set off an alarm just to see how long it took the alarm comany to call, 12 minutes. It took 12 mins from the time we set off the alarm till the time the dispatcher got the call. That doesn’t even count the response time. On a busy night, add the usual 5-10 minute response time. So 14 minutes was pretty good for this woman. She’s lucky, not.

      Alarms are counter-measures. A true defense has layers. Alarms, deadbolts, reinforced doors and windows, dogs and finally self-defense (i.e.gun), etc.

      • Many people have themselves or their spouse as the first point of contact with the alarm company in order to avoid false alarm fees. This severely erodes police response times. 14 minutes is a ridiculous response time but as cliche’d as “when seconds count…” sounds, it is applicable in every sense of the phrase in situations such as this.

  6. Wait, I was told by “really smart” media people that the only folks buying guns were old scared racist white guys expanding their arsenals. I also don’t believe this story actually took place because the story doesn’t mention the women must have immediately shot herself or family member in the house since the same smart people say that’s what happens.

    Enough sarcasm, how about that. Reality intrudes on the narrative and the magical people did not appear at the moments notice. Fascinating.

    • Through cognitive dissonance, propaganda always reveals itself as the lie that it is.

      It just takes longer for some people than others…

      Glad this woman got the message before she got really hurt or worse.

  7. Security cameras are only good for intelligence gathering and evidence collection. They aren’t a real deterrent. Alarms are just that, an alarm to wake you up and automatically alert the authorities. Dogs are great as an alarm, but don’t count on them attacking the intruder unless they are trained to do so.

    In the intervening time of calling the police and by the time they arrive, it’s up to you. Arm yourself accordingly. Practice, train, and resolve to shoot any unwelcome intruders on your property. Yes, it takes a lot of courage and conviction to shoot, but sometimes it’s your only option. Better them than you.

    • I absolutely believe dogs are a good element of home defense.

      However, in this day and age, we cannot deny their potential downside: they seem to be bullet attractors.

      What’s the logic here? Antis say stuff like “call the cops” and everyone agrees dogs are good…and what do the cops do with routine efficiency?

      Shoot the dog.

      It’s a real head scratcher.

      It’s almost as if the antis are purposefully recommending calling the cops to eliminate one of the true solutions to home security you have….another one…besides arming yourself.

    • If a person has dogs and the cops are coming and you know they are coming, put your dogs up and tell the cops to stay away from where they are. Remind them over and over. Protect your dogs.

    • This is California remember.

      The chances of picking a house that has an armed owner is lower there.

  10. ‘Security Cameras And Alarms Won’t Stop a Home Invader’

    Who said they would? Only an idiot would think so. Moreover, if one has the means to have such a system, AND 16 internal cameras, one would think the system is monitored and the police are notified by the system or company.

    • Home alarm systems have been marketing “we keep you safe” for years. We, the POTG, know that alarms just make noise and cameras record stuff. It’s the good guy with a gun, or the threat thereof, that scared of actual intruders. Barring that, it’s usually gunfire that makes intruders seriously reconsider their actions.

      • Those damn ADT commercials where the guy breaks the glass with the mom and child in the next room. The alarm wails and the guy takes off… yeah, apparently not in real life.

  11. I once set up an auto burglar alarm in a motorhome. with air horns inside. regrettably it went off when they opened the door. found out later the ten second delay does not work unless you use the remote to arm it.

    they never came back, I really wanted video of the saintly little darlings breaking and entering and falling all over themselves trying to leave air horn hell.

  12. Along the alarm front, get one that is VERY loud, loud enough for neighbors to hear, on the dog front, big dogs with big barks and big bites. Not the ankle bitter type. On the gun front, get one you feel very comfortable shooting and can shoot well. Just my 2 cents worth on the subjects. 🙂

    • In my experience the neighbors will not respond to an alarm going off unless it becomes a nuisance. 10 minutes for the police to respond gives a professional burglar more than enough time to be in and out with valuables.

  13. Being the good neighbor I am my security system is designed to make them a more attractive target. If anyone does come in I have a camera covering the outside of the bedroom so I know what I will be facing when I open the door.

    The other good thing about the inside cameras is there is evidence of a shooting.

    I am curious to know what she got as her first gun for home defense.

    • “I am curious to know what she got as her first gun for home defense.”

      Does it really matter?

      First Rule of Gunfights: Have a gun.

  14. Don’t forget good deadbolt locks on the doors and window locks on the ground-floor windows; when not home, leave timers on for lights, radios, tee-vee, etc. Trained dogs are good, but even a barky little beast often works to dismay goblins. Plus everything else mentioned here.

    Fourteen minutes for the police response is, on one hand, outrageous, but on the other hand, a very good wake-up call for everyone. And yeah, a half-hour or longer out in the boonies. Honest cops will tell you you’re on your own.

  16. I’m glad she had her “Come to Jesus” moment without having to meet Him. It looks like he went in through the sliding glass door, which are notorious for having a cheap pot metal latch. It the very least, a broomstick, cut to length and dropped in the track will slow down a home invader.

    Does California have waiting periods on long guns?

    • Yup, 10 days for all gun purcheses. Even if transferred from a relative. I remember seeing a non California story of a lady who’s house was robbed, they got her pistol and I think some gold coins. She replaced her gun and a week later somebody, I forget if it was the same guy or not, broke in and attacked her and she was able to use her gun to defend herself. Would have sucked if her replacement gun was sitting at an ffl while she was assaulted because of a waiting period. Hope they follow through with exempting people who already own a gun and/ or have a Ccw, kinda silly going into a store carrying a loaded gun and being told you can’t have it for 10 days. Guess that’s one of those commen sense gun laws they keep talking about.

  18. That’s hilarious. Color me unsympathetic.

    14 minutes for the cops… would have actually beaten Domino’s.

    • In that case police response time was slightly better than pizza delivery. In many other instances pizza delivery is faster than police response time.

      Now imagine what police response time would be if there were adverse environmental conditions such as fog, smoke, ice/snow, chaos (e.g. aftermath of an earthquake), etc.

  19. Here is a priceless quote from the homeowner Heide Quezada

    “All this time I thought I was safe because I locked my doors, I set my alarm, have my cameras. But it was like sleeping with the doors wide open,”

    Unfortunately, it took this home invasion for Ms. Quezada to have her epiphany that the best tool to protect herself is a firearm. Fortunately, she survived, acted upon her epiphany, and purchased a firearm of some sort. Can a member of the Armed Intelligentsia who lives in San Jose please offer to help train Ms. Quezada?

  20. All a dog should be used for is as an early warning system to give you time to get up and arm yourself.

  21. Samson Says if that mofo tried that bullstuff at Samson’s house, Samson would be blessing that fool with buckshot and bustin fotay-cal caps like it was 1999.

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