The French door was kicked in, and glass was broken.
In 1990 Walter Cowger and his family were living in East Dallas. That December, the family left the home one night, and accidentally forgot to set their home’s security alarm. What followed is still a major regret.
“They got away with a significant amount of property,” Cowger says of that 1990 burglary.
Cowger has been determined not to repeat that mistake at his home in Preston Hollow North, and those efforts recently paid off.
“It was about 1:30 in the afternoon that someone came in an unlocked back gate and kicked in a French door at our home,” Cowger says.
This time the Cowgers’ security alarm was set — and went off on cue. Another pint-sized security measure also was there to make some noise.
“We have this extremely yappy poodle that also scared them away,” he says. “It looked like they were in the process of gathering up some computer equipment and then fled.”
Cowger is pleased the crook didn’t get away with any loot this time, but there was still significant damage to the family’s ornate door, which had to be repaired.
“The door cost about $600 to fix,” Cowger says. “The carpenter told us it would be cheaper to fix than buying a new one.
“I was upset about the door and the break-in, but I was pretty relieved that we dodged a bullet.”
Barry Payne of the Dallas Police North Central Patrol Division says burglars often are able to steal property from even homes with alarms. However, they offer great prevention of extensive theft, he says.
“Most security alarms have a delay allowing a homeowner to enter to disarm the system. If a burglar breaches the door that has a delay, the alarm will not actually activate for a minute or so,” Payne says. “This can conceivably give a burglar a short time to grab some easy things before he leaves and the neighbors and police know that an offense has occurred.”
Payne says family pets, as in Cowger’s case, can be great deterrents also.
“Noise is a burglar’s enemy. Dogs, even little ones can be a pest, and yelp at or bite an intruder. Big or small, they are always helpful unless they are so lazy they won’t get up or bark if someone comes in.”
