www.yourmoney.com – Blog: Don’t accidentally invalidate your home insurance – by Adam Powell, May 23^rd, 2014:

Few of us think we'll ever fall victim to burglary yet it's an issue that a surprisingly high number of people have faced.

According to recent research, one in 10 of us has had our home burgled. More alarmingly perhaps is that one in three people admit to leaving doors unlocked when they leave the house and six per cent hide spare keys near their front door.

While some may think leaving doors unlocked is a trivial action, by not securing your property efficiently, you'll not only risk burglary, you'll also risk invalidating your home insurance.

If there is no evidence of a forced entry and it appears a burglar strolled in through an unlocked door, your home insurer may refuse to meet your claim. They might say you failed to take appropriate measures to properly secure the property and therefore deem your policy invalid.

Associated Press – "Donor, ex-boyfriend: GOP Senate hopeful stalked me" - May 18th, 2014:

PORTLAND, OREGON (AP) — A millionaire former boyfriend who’s now bankrolling ads against her opponent called the police last year on Monica Wehby, the leading Republican candidate in Oregon’s U.S. Senate race, and accused her of stalking him as their relationship broke up.

Timber company executive Andrew Miller told a Portland police officer on April 4, 2013, that Wehby “had been ‘harassing’ his employees and ‘stalking’ him,” according to a report the officer filed.

Wehby did not address the issue in a debate with Conger in Portland on Friday, and she ignored questions from reporters as she and her staff left out a side door.

Wehby has excited Republicans in Washington, who are impressed by her resume and are hopeful she can raise enough money to make her competitive against Democratic incumbent Jeff Merkley, despite Republicans’ longstanding struggles to win statewide races in Oregon.

Authorities got involved when Miller called police to say Wehby wouldn’t leave his house, according to the report. An officer spotted Wehby’s Mercedes leaving Miller’s neighborhood and pulled her over.

She told the officer she’d been in a relationship with Miller for two years but that something changed over the weekend and he’d stopped talking to her or returning her calls, according to the police report. She said she’d visited his house, and when he didn’t answer, entered through an unlocked back door. The officer told her to go home and not to return to Miller’s home unless she was invited.

Miller said he and Wehby remain friends, but their relationship is over.

 

The Daily Breeze (Torrance, California) – “Burglars creep into two Manhattan Beach homes while residents sleep” – May 5^th, 2014:

Burglars slithered into two Manhattan Beach homes as their residents slept in the middle of the night over the weekend, prompting police on Monday to encourage potential victims to lock their doors and windows at night.

Residents in neither of the homes knew a crime had occurred in the neighboring rooms until they awakened in the morning, Manhattan Beach police Officer Stephanie Martin said.

“The scary part is that you are home asleep and you have no idea somebody is wandering around inside your house,” Martin said. “Unnerving is an understatement when you think of that. And completely terrifying when you wake up and find someone in your home. It’s very scary and very concerning.”

The first crime occurred sometime between 2:45 and 8:45 a.m. Saturday in the 4400 Block of The Strand. Police determined the burglars entered through an unlocked sliding glass door. The residents said the thieves took an iPhone, a wallet and car keys.

The second crime occurred sometime between 5:30 and 10:15 a.m. the same day at a home in the 200 block of Shell Street. Police believe the burglars entered through an unlocked door and took an iPhone, a computer, keys and other personal items.

Police don’t know if the bold burglars targeted the houses or hit them by chance because they were unsecured.

Police throughout the South Bay have cautioned residents for years that they can reduce crime by simply locking their homes and automobiles.

WLS-TV (Chicago, Illinois) – “Burbank woman wakes to intruder tugging at her clothes” – April 27^th, 2014:

April 27, 2014 (BURBANK, Ill.) (WLS) -- Police in southwest suburban Burbank are looking for a man who broke into a woman's home. She woke up when she felt the intruder tugging on her clothes.

The woman screamed early Saturday morning and got the attention of others living with her. The suspect ran out of the home and drove off in a van.

No one was hurt.

Police believe the suspect got in through an unlocked door.

The Bainbridge Island (Washington) Review – “Serial burglar still prowling on island UPDATE” – April 25^th, 2014:

Bainbridge Island police released two sketches of suspects who may have been involved in a string of residential burglaries on the island since early March.

Police Chief Matthew Hamner said Wednesday the illustrations were prepared by a police sketch artist with another agency. The sketches were prepared on April 15 and April 17, after more burglaries were reported on the island, and witnesses to earlier burglaries provided detailed descriptions to police.

In the most recent incident, the man entered a Bainbridge home while one of the residents was still home.

A 22-year-old woman was at home while her parents were away, and heard someone entering the house the afternoon of Wednesday, April 16.

She retreated to a bathroom, locked the door, and called 911.

Roughly two dozen burglaries have been reported on Bainbridge Island since March.

In six of the burglaries, the intruder entered through an unlocked door. The burglar forced his way into homes in some of the other cases.

The majority of the incidents occurred during the week and daytime hours while residents are at work.

The intruder has made off with easy-to-carry items such as jewelry and laptop computers, as well as three firearms.

The theft of the guns adds another dimension to the crimes.

fox5sandiego.com (California) – “Handcuffed inmate escapes from jail” – April 21^st, 2014:

SAN DIEGO – A 21 year old robbery suspect is on the loose after he escaped from the San Diego Central Jail downtown Monday afternoon.

Angelo Paschall was brought to the central jail by two La Mesa police officers Monday and was in the process of being booked when he escaped through an unlocked door. San Diego police, La Mesa police and Sheriff’s deputies used dogs to search for the inmate in the downtown area, specifically targeting a parking structure on 6th and L street, but they could not find him.

Morning Sentinel (Waterville, Maine) – “Charges in Cambridge home invasion upgraded to felony robbery” – April 20^th, 2014:

Two men with bandanas covering their faces allegedly invaded Ripley Road home, assaulted woman and made off with drugs in getaway car driven by woman, according to police.

Charges against two local men and a woman from Howland have been upgraded to felony robbery following a masked home invasion March 23 in Cambridge.

 

The woman, Melinda Riggs, 25, the alleged driver of the getaway car that night, was arrested Friday by Somerset County sheriff’s deputies on charges of robbery, burglary and theft. Riggs first was arrested after the home invasion on a probation hold. She is on probation for possession of scheduled drugs.

Joshua Chase, 28, of Detroit, and Ryan Spaulding, 24, of Waterville, originally were charged with probation violations and with assault following the home invasion. They now are charged with robbery, burglary, assault and theft.

Police said two men, believed to be Chase and Spaulding, covered their faces with bandannas and made their way into a home on Ripley Road through an unlocked door about 1:20 a.m. Once inside the men allegedly assaulted the 34-year-old woman who lives there when she confronted them, and they made off with prescription medication, according to Dale Lancaster, chief deputy for the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

The woman reportedly was assaulted a second time outside the home as the men attempted to leave in the getaway car, a 2000 Nissan Maxima, allegedly driven by Riggs, Lancaster said.

The getaway car was stopped 10 minutes later on Corinna Road in Dexter by the Dexter Police Department during a routine drunken driving roadblock.