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FAR NORTH DALLAS JULY 2009
The Crime: Burglary
The Victim: Tadd Jensen
Date: Friday, May. 15
Time: 8:30 AM
Location: 17000 block of Benchmark
The glass patio door was shattered and kicked in.
Inside the Somerset home, burglars stole items worth more than $4,000. Homeowner Tadd Jensen had been home later than normal that morning and left for a trip around 10:30 a.m. After he left, and before his housecleaners arrived at 2 p.m., someone broke in and made off with a 42-inch Sony television, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and computer equipment. Jensen did not set his alarm because his housekeepers were expected that afternoon.
“When my flight landed in Newark-New Jersey, I was greeted with text messages and voicemail saying that my house had been broken into,” Jensen says. “That was kind of shocking.”
Jensen says he did not have a lock on the gate to his back yard. Burglars were able to enter the yard, smashed one pane of the glass patio door, and kicked in the door as well. The deadbolt was not fully locked, he says, making it easier to kick in the door.
In the past, Jensen says, burglars have also entered his garage, stealing an air compressor and small stereo.
“I try to be strong about things like this, but it makes you feel a little bit less safe,” Jensen says.
Dallas Police Lt. Barry Payne of the North Central Patrol Division offers some tips on quality locks and deadbolts.
“One can spend as much money as one wants on quality locks and reinforcing doors, and each upgrade keeps more persistent burglars out,” Payne says. “That being said, standard quality locks keep a vast majority of burglars out. The standard recommendation for deadbolts is a double-cylinder deadbolt with at least a 2.5-inch throw. The principle is, the further the bolt goes into the door jam, the more secure.”
Regarding the fence, Payne says it helps to keep the fence locked, but normal backyard fences are easy to climb, and are not designed to keep people out but to provide privacy or keep in pets.
“In this particular case, if the burglar was intent on breaking into this house, the fence lock would not have stopped him, but just slowed him down a little.”
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