Weather Clear – With A Probability Of Burglary

Beautiful days in the 24/680 as we hang out the laundry between storms and pluck the mushrooms from our pockets, bracing for the next wave of precipitation and prepping ahead of the storm.

Our (cherished) readers have been deluging us with photos of the deluge and we’re using the best ones, of course, though after a while one plugged sewer drain tends to look like the next – but it still helps us to know what’s happening out in the neighborhoods.

And one thing we know is happening is that we remain in the crosshairs of well organized burglary crews who are getting bolder and bolder and arming themselves to overcome any possible future resistance.

The citizenry is getting pretty fed up with having their catalytic converters stolen, their businesses broken into, and their safes lassoed and hauled out of their homes like bleating calves, and there is frequent talk on social media about, you know, going all Charles Bronson on “the perps” – a term you may be assured we would never use.

There have already been a few high-profile skirmishes, with lead flying after guys with Sawzalls or crowbars visit in the dead of night. Now, it seems, the crews (we believe the number to be plurals but we have no hard data on exactly how many) working our area are upping their game – both in terms of technology and hardware.

With the best civilian defense currently limited to camera systems capturing the antics of masked and hoodied Bad Dudes in HD as they reconnoiter and assault our cars, businesses and homes, some startling photography is turning up.

Previous thought as to when these guys are most likely to do their worst has been thrown out as it appears they have adopted a “anytime/anywhere” work ethic, are “wired in” with two-way communications, change cars more often than most people change socks – and are arming themselves in an apparent effort to dissuade intervention and possible pursuit from their victims or police.

With all the cameras out there we are getting some interesting images of the raiders at work. One frame from a surveillance video recently captured in Martinez shows a crew at work under a car parked in the driveway of a local home, one of the crew members “standing guard” over his colleagues as they worked to secure a catalytic converter – the “security” standing in the driveway with a pistol aimed squarely at the victim’s front door. (We have seen the photo and others but do not have permission from the camera owner to use it. Perhaps, soon.) His pistol seems equipped with an extended magazine, which would provide a rude awakening for any resident unfortunate enough to step outside.

At this point, best we can tell is that these crews possibly belong to street gang sub-sets or just highly organized groups of friends or associates, some of them possibly visiting from other parts of the country. They work quickly, with the alacrity of a good NASCAR pit crew, and often leave their tools behind in their haste to get away. Virtually every town and city in the 24/680 has been visited, with crews skirting cameras and going around to the backs of homes, using glass breakers or anything at hand to gain entry through a rear sliding door and taking electronics, cash, car keys, generators, weapons – anything they can re-sell.

If you’ve been visited by one of these crews lately and have a photo or two you’re willing to share, we’d be interested in seeing them. And we’re sorry if you lost anything to them.