The burglars who wiped out Mark Buskuhl’s home didn’t leave much behind.
“They took just about everything – all they left were some cigarette butts, which tells me they had time to stop and take a smoke break while they robbed me.”
Buskuhl bought the Preston Hollow home as an investment property and says he’s poured thousands of dollars into remodeling it, including buying topnotch appliances.
“I’m just happy there wasn’t furniture in the house, otherwise I would really be out of some serious money.”
But he’s still out a pretty penny: Buskuhl estimates the burglars took more than $6,000 worth of property.
Since the break-in, Buskuhl has replaced all the stolen goods and installed an alarm system. But a few weeks after the alarm system was installed, the burglars returned and attempted to break-in again.
“This time they cut the power to my meter because they wanted to shut off all the electricity in the house,” he says. “Luckily they weren’t successful in shutting down the alarm system, but it’s amazing – I never knew how easy it was to cut the power to someone’s house.”
Buskuhl says the close call was a little too close for comfort, and he felt the need to step-up his security plan yet again.
“I wanted to hire a police officer to come do a stake out to catch these burglars in the act,” he says. “But when that didn’t end up happening, I just decided to let a Dallas Police Officer live in my home until I sell it. This way, at least I can sleep at night.”
And if there are other neighbors with empty investment properties, Dallas Police Crpl. Jamie Matthews says there are other things they can do to prevent break-ins.
“If you have a home that nobody is living in, it’s especially important to keep the windows covered at all times, that way burglars can’t figure out it’s empty,” she says. “And visit the home regularly, but try to change up the days you visit and the hours you visit. For example, don’t come by every weekday after work, because a burglar scoping the house will figure out your schedule and know when you’re not there. Instead, go at random times throughout the week, so there’s no set schedule. And if you go late at night, always take someone with you.”
Matthews says an alarm system is also a good idea, and so is some sort of video surveillance equipment. But she warns that if you do use surveillance, you’ll need to make sure the camera is placed at an obstruction-free angle, and that there is plenty of good lighting. Otherwise you’ll just get footage of dark, unidentifiable figures.
Lastly, Matthews says it’s important to keep track of all the serial numbers for appliances.
“Keeping record of those serial numbers is critical because it really increases the likelihood of getting your property back,” she says. “If your appliances are stolen, make sure you give the police those serial numbers when you file the report. They’ll put those numbers on the report, which will go to our detectives who visit pawnshops regularly, looking for stolen property. You can even etch your driver’s license number into the back of your appliances, that way if they’re recovered by the police, they know who to return it to. Just make sure it’s only a driver’s license number, not a social security number.”
