Camera catches Woodinville burglars in the act
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WOODINVILLE, Wash. -- A Woodinville homeowner is asking for help to catch the thieves who burglarized his shed, but his foresight might be the best help of all.
Graham Watson knows exactly what was stolen from his shed early Wednesday morning.
"They took a gas powered generator, a brand new pressure washer, a couple of hedge trimmers, streamer, a whole set of rechargeable drills," he said.
One of Watson's neighbors first noticed something was fishy at about 4 a.m., when he saw a suspicious looking silver Volvo parked in Watson's cul-de-sac.
"I got a phone call at work from my wife, who was a bit concerned. She has seen some people in hoodies wandering around in the backyard," Watson said.
He now believes the thieves rang the doorbell, and when his wife didn't answer they assumed nobody was home.
What the thieves failed to notice was the camera watching all their moves.
"And they're positioned so that there's no way to get to the house or the cameras themselves without being spotted," Watson said.
While the perfectly clear photo of the crooks will likely help police catch them, the thieves did get away with quite a bit of Watson's stuff.
As it turns out, they took so much that they were forced to leave something of their own behind.
"A great big speaker in a box," Watson said. "They filled their car up with so much of my stuff that they had no room for their stuff."
The thieves made off with about $2,000 worth of equipment, but they couldn't escape the cameras. It's a comfort Watson said should not be overlooked.
"I would strongly recommend it," he said. "If you're at all worried about this sort of thing, go get a security system of some sort. Preferably a video system like I have, so that you can actually show the police. The police will thank you."
Graham Watson knows exactly what was stolen from his shed early Wednesday morning.
"They took a gas powered generator, a brand new pressure washer, a couple of hedge trimmers, streamer, a whole set of rechargeable drills," he said.
One of Watson's neighbors first noticed something was fishy at about 4 a.m., when he saw a suspicious looking silver Volvo parked in Watson's cul-de-sac.
"I got a phone call at work from my wife, who was a bit concerned. She has seen some people in hoodies wandering around in the backyard," Watson said.
He now believes the thieves rang the doorbell, and when his wife didn't answer they assumed nobody was home.
What the thieves failed to notice was the camera watching all their moves.
"And they're positioned so that there's no way to get to the house or the cameras themselves without being spotted," Watson said.
While the perfectly clear photo of the crooks will likely help police catch them, the thieves did get away with quite a bit of Watson's stuff.
As it turns out, they took so much that they were forced to leave something of their own behind.
"A great big speaker in a box," Watson said. "They filled their car up with so much of my stuff that they had no room for their stuff."
The thieves made off with about $2,000 worth of equipment, but they couldn't escape the cameras. It's a comfort Watson said should not be overlooked.
"I would strongly recommend it," he said. "If you're at all worried about this sort of thing, go get a security system of some sort. Preferably a video system like I have, so that you can actually show the police. The police will thank you."
I'd like to see the update on this story that these kids have been caught!
They are just grabbing themselves a piece of the American Dream. They don't care that it's someone else's piece.
Put a small bounty on them. I bet they have some low income friends who would turn them in.
Should be fairly simple to search the DOL data base for white Volvo's and cross match to the drivers license pics of owners. Or is that only done on CSI and Hawaii Five-O?
 @Saving Grace They can't keep their own dashboard camera system working properly in Seattle. Maybe they actually need to get one of the tech companies to run it for them.
I'd like to learn how to buy a camera of this good quality for my own home. Then perhaps a big gun. I'm just going to say this, that kid in the video looks Russian.
@Koawoodplayer I think Costco sell complete security camera kits. Guns you can get almost anywhere!
I have no idea what a "streamer" is, but it must be expensive to stream......stuff......
@PilonidalCyst It was a "strimmer", not a "stringer". Must have been my English accent... ;-)
I am not sure the police will do a damned thing. "Take it up with your insurance company". Been there, done that. Sorry, but they are too busy to mess with petty property theft.
@Hagar Actually the police have been very helpful, we've had a sheriff round three times investigating this incident, and they have spent a bunch of time reviewing the videos as well. These two seem to be career criminals, so it's well worth the polices time to take them off the streets if they can.
 @Graham  @Hagar Delighted to hear that. I know the cops want to chase these guys but they are stretched too thin and the court system too overloaded to do what needs to be done. Good luck!
I hope someone can identify these thugs before they strike again.
I got a camera installed too and got footages of 2-guys in a white van driving forward in my driveway, then reverse drive into my driveway while the other guy went around my property to the back. Fortunately, they didn't take anything. This happened in Issaquah.
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@Sid Vishess When we lived up there we had our shop and one of our out buildings hooked into our ADT system. Its cheap and worth the piece of mind.
Great job getting footage, Watson! Hope you get your items back and these scum go to jail.
@super No kidding, and it's nice to see some high-res color footage in there for a change. Somebody will definitely recognize these little buttheads and their Volvo with the broken out passenger window.
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Say, "Cheese!"
The ironic thing is that the speaker left behind was probably stolen from some other poor chap.
 @SG1 Exactly what I was thinking. Probably repeat offenders here - and the story sounds all to familiar to a friend who's detached work shed was broken into up there and he lost a miter saw and a few power tools.