So...I started this particular blog because for years my wife and I have marveled at how many crime stories in the news include some variation of the phrase "unlocked door" in them. Since starting it, I have been even more aware of this preventable syndrome. And that awareness comes from all sorts of sources.

Right now, we're in San Francisco (see my film blog, iwakeupscreening) at a film festival. We didn't fly into the city, we took the train. On the way here, our train passed by the backsides of a lot of buildings, of all sorts. But one particular building in a railroad depot caught my eye as we passed. There was a door on the backside of this building. Said door was marked, in block letters two or three inches tall, KEEP DOOR CLOSED.

The door was ajar.

komonews.com - Police: Victim gives drunk burglar a glass of water – Jan. 22^nd, 2014:

According to the Seattle police report for the incident, the victim was home alone at his parents' house in the 6600 block of 57th Avenue Northeast when he heard noises coming from the master bedroom shortly before 3:30 p.m.

When the victim went to investigate, he found the suspect -- apparently having come in through the unlocked front door -- opening drawers and throwing items onto the floor, according to the report.

The victim later told officers the suspect appeared to be drunk and/or high, so he offered him a chair to sit on and gave him a glass of water.

The victim sat with the suspect until officers arrived and arrested him for investigation of burglary.

The Washington Post - Anne Arundel County and Howard County crime report – Jan. 22nd, 2014:

These were among incidents reported by the Annapolis Police Department.

Burnside St., 300 block, 6 p.m. Jan. 12 to 11 a.m. Jan. 13. Cash was stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

Canterfield Rd., 300 block, 4:35 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 13. A cellphone was stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

Simms Dr., 1-99 block, 5 p.m. Jan. 11 to noon Jan. 12. Tools were stolen from an unlocked vehicle. A screwdriver was found in the ignition.

 

Tallwood Rd., 1000 block, 12:45 a.m. Jan. 16. A white 2009 Jaguar XF four-door sedan was stolen. It was left unlocked with a key inside.

The Marietta (Georgia) Daily Journal – “Police search for woman wanted in thefts from cars” – Jan. 17^th, 2014:

Police are searching for a woman they say broke into at least a dozen vehicles last month along the Bells Ferry Road corridor and may be continuing to do so.

Officer David Baldwin of Marietta Police Department said the vehicle break-ins were committed Dec. 23 near three apartment complexes.

At least a dozen cars were ransacked, but it appears those vehicles must have been unlocked because there was no other damage, Baldwin said.

“It sounds like they were door flippers,” Baldwin said, referring to the practice whereby thieves will ransack a neighborhood by checking car after car for unlocked doors.

Chico (California) Enterprise-Record – Hits and Misses Editorial Column – Jan. 17^th, 2014:

Home burglaries are often a good reminder that residents need to be careful and do the obvious — don't leave doors and windows unlocked.

Chico State University learned the hard way this week that those rules apply to institutions as well as homes.

An unlocked exterior door to the baseball stadium on campus allowed thieves to enter and steal about $10,000 worth of gear — batting gloves, shirts, catching gear, cleats and sweatshirts.

Few people would think of burglarizing a baseball stadium in the offseason, but the open door presented a crime of opportunity.

Corvallis (Oregon) Gazette-Times Police Log - Thursday, Jan. 2nd, 2014:

A woman reported that sometime between mid-October and Jan. 2, someone entered her unlocked, unattended garage at her residence and stole nearly $4000 in fishing poles and gear.

The Northwest Florida Daily News - "Suspect burglarizes home while couple sleeps"  - Jan. 13th, 2014:

Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies are seeking a suspect in a burglary at a home at 23 Doral Drive early Thursday morning.

A man is seen on a security camera entering the home’s garage at about 2 a.m., according to an offense report.

He then goes into the home through an unlocked door to the living room.

The suspect is described as an about-45-year-old white man. He is approximately 6 feet, 10 inches tall and of medium build with a gray, well-groomed beard.

The Wichita Eagle  - "Woman jumps from balcony to escape attacker" - Jan. 14th, 2014:

A 29-year-old woman was taken to a local hospital for treatment after she jumped from a balcony to escape a man who entered her south Wichita residence and attacked her late Monday afternoon, police said.

The woman told police a stranger came into her house through an unlocked front door and struck her several times before taking her cellphone and a small amount of cash. She was able to get away and jumped off a balcony to get away.

Fort Mill Times – “Missing Fort Mill mom charged with neglect” - Fort Mill, South Carolina – Jan. 10^th, 2014:

A local mother was arrested Friday after she was accused of leaving her three young children home alone for at least a day, according to a York County Sheriff’s Office report.

After an investigation, Heather Sue Ratliff, 44, of 1426 Doe Ridge Lane, Fort Mill, was charged with three counts of Unlawful Neglect Of Child/helpless Person and one charge of Public Disorderly Conduct. A neighbor of Ratliff’s called the sheriff’s office on Jan. 9 after Ratliff’s children went to the neighbor’s house and asked for a ride to school, the report states. The neighbor told a sheriff’s office deputy that he didn’t see any vehicles in Ratliff’s driveway and went over to her house to check but she didn’t appear to be home.

The neighbor gave the children, ages 6, 8 and 10, breakfast and took them to school. Deputies spoke with a guidance counselor at the school who said Ratliff’s children told her they hadn’t seen their mother since about 9 p.m. on Jan. 8. Deputies made a well-being check at Ratliff’s home and entered through an unlocked front door after no one responded to their knocking or calls, according to the report.

It was unclear from the report when or where deputies found Ratliff and why she was charged with disorderly conduct. No other information was available.

www.virginiamn.com - Virginia, Minnesota - Jan. 10^th, 2014:

Police responding to a call about 10 a.m. Dec. 16 were told by the Virginia man calling that when he went for a walk the evening before, he had left his front door unlocked. Upon returning, the man found the door locked, his iphone missing and realized that his home had been burglarized.

fox4kc.com – St. Joseph, Missouri - Jan. 11^th, 2014:

Detectives  in Buchanan County are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who got inside a woman’s house in a rural area, violated her and committed other crimes.

The 20-year-old woman said during the early morning hours on December 18^th she was sound asleep when the intruder first entered her downstairs bedroom.

The victim believes the brazen intruder got inside her house through an unlocked garage door.

manhattanbeach.patch.com – Manhattan Beach (California) - “Burglars Strike Homes in Diverse Areas of Manhattan Beach” – Jan. 9^th, 2014:

An unlocked garage in the 200 block of First St. was hit by a burglar who stole three TVs, a gas fryer and a blower sometime between 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 28 and noon on Monday, Jan. 6, according to a police report.

Medford (Oregon) Mail Tribune - "East Medford thieves target unlocked vehicles" - Jan. 8th, 2014:

Don't want your car broken into? A good place to start would be to lock your doors.

That didn't happen when thieves entered 18 cars in east Medford in recent days, taking spare change, a wallet, credit cards and even a gun left inside the vehicles, Medford police said.

"We see these a lot," Medford police Lt. Mike  Budreau said. "If you leave your car unlocked overnight, you're asking for somebody to open the door and look around and steal any property that could be in it."

Police said the neighborhood will go for months without any reports of criminal activity, leading residents to get lax about locking up.

"They get complacent," Budreau said. "All it takes is one time with leaving your door unlocked."

Mercer Island (Washington) Reporter – Police Blotter – Dec. 27^th, 2013:

CAR PROWL: An unlocked Volkswagen in the 6800 block of S.E. 30th Street with its keys left inside the car, was stolen overnight, sometime between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

cumming.patch.com - Cumming, Georgia - Jan. 4th, 2014:

A naked man was found lying on the ground at a Cumming home with a garage door resting on his back during an early-morning burglary call.

The responding deputy ran to the right side of the home and spotted the man.

"I observed the naked buttocks and legs of a white male (lying) face down on the driveway," the deputy wrote in the report. "The garage door was open and resting on the back of the naked male just above his buttocks. I could see the rest of the male, from the bottom of the torso to the head in the garage of the residence, naked as well."

The officer drew his gun, ordered the man - later identified as Jonathan Bratkowski, 23 - to show his hands and lifted the garage door. After he was handcuffed, police asked Bratkowski what he was doing, and he replied "he was not doing anything wrong," the report says.

Bratkowski, who lives at another Brand Hatch Boulevard home, said he had drank that day 12 ounces of one "Four Loko." Four Loko is a line of carbonated alcoholic drinks that contain much more than one serving of alcohol and before a Food and Drug Administration crackdown, included caffeine, according to the Associated Press.

The male resident of the home, 24, told police he awoke to find a fully-clothed Bratkowski in his bedroom, asked what he was doing there and pushed him out of the room.

The woman, 62, said Bratkowski probably entered through an unlocked kitchen door, but both residents told police he was not invited.

Bratkowski was taken to Northside Hospital-Forsyth, where he tripped over a bed in an exam room and fell "front first to the floor," according to the report.

CBSNewYork.com - Clifton, New Jersey - Jan. 1st, 2014:

Police are warning Clifton residents to take precautions after a spate of home burglaries.

Pat Schuckman said she had sometimes left her door unlocked when she brings her daughter to work — but not after the home of one of her neighbors on Harding Avenue was burglarized twice in one week.

“You have to take extra precaution,” Schuckman said. “When you’re just running out, you have to lock the door now.”

WHAS11.com - Harrison County, Indiana - Jan. 2nd, 2014:



Two young men accused of killing a Harrison County couple in August 2013 may now face the death penalty.

Austin Scott and Kevin Schuler pleaded not guilty in connection with the brutal murders of Gary Henderson and Asenath Arnold. Police said the two entered the couple's Greenville home through an unlocked door and brutally killed Henderson and Arnold. Police also said the suspects stole prescription pills, credit cards and guns from the home.

Palos Verdes Estates (California) Police Log - Dec. 25th, 2013, 2:20AM:

2700 block of Via Victoria. Someone entered an unlocked vehicle and attempted to remove property. While still in the vehicle, the thief was interrupted by a victim and fled on foot.