>> Thieves trying to steal my Viper out of my garage last night! <<

So I leave for a short 3 day trip out of state. At my house I have 2 of my Vipers in my garage along with my motorcycle and a bmw. At about 2:30am Sat morning, I get a call on my cell phone from the Security Alarm Monitoring company showing that my home alarm was triggered and the security code was not entered to turn it off and they have dispatched the police to my house. My gal calls me and is in tears telling me she was alseep and had the house alarm on with the motion sensors off (so the large dogs we have can sleep in the house and wander around.) She says as she scrambled out of bed, she runs to the bedroom key pad and sees that the alarm says it was one of the garage doors that was opened that triggered the alarm. She runs down the hall to the room that has the door that leads out into the garage to make sure it is locked, and it was. At this point, she hears scuffling in the garage and is freaking out. She calls 911 and is on the phone with them until the police arrive some 15 mins later or so. When the police gets there, they see that my Viper SRT-10 passenger door is open, and that the dolly I had sitting behind the car (blocking its exit) was thrown into my yard. Other than that, nothing seems to be missing, as they only had about 60 seconds from the time they got into the garage until the time the alarm went blazing on the entire house.

The garage door was some how opened from the outside. We have several garage door openers which are all accounted for. The thieves could have grabbed wheels, or other valuable parts I had sitting there, but they were interested in either the SRT-10 or the stereo set up inside of it. So while I was out of town, I start thinking that perhaps somebody broke into my Hummer H2 which was parked at a PARK AND RIDE over by the airport, grabbed my garage remote out of there, grabbed my registration so they could get my address, and since my H2 is parked there, they would know I was on a flight, so they go to steal while I am away. Well, nothing was wrong with my Hummer when I got in tonight. Garage door opener was in there.

So, I am assuming the thieves had a code buster of some kind. I am guessing garage door frequencies aren't very difficult to crack/duplicate.

I never arm my car alarms in the garage since I have the house alarm, and the Viper has an aftermarket alarm system with a perimeter sensor, and sometimes it just goes off in the garage if its armed and parked too close to the wall or something, so I leave it off at home.

So, I was wondering what you guys have done, if anything, to secure your garage so that thieves aren't busting in in the middle of the night to steal your stuff?

I'm thinking about at least putting up some motion sensor flood lights outside the garage -- right now it is almost pitch black on my street and people could be at my garage doors and nobody would see them since there is only moon light.

Not sure what to do about the garage door opener frequency and keeping people from being able to so easily pop them open. Ideas? I have 3 Vipers I keep in my garage when all are accounted for, and I want them safe and not having to deal with an insurance company.

-Manny

Manny,

Glad to hear you came away lucky !

Wouldn't you like to lay your hands on those guys ?
I'd go medievel on them...

Here in Texas we kill'em. DEAD. Legally. And we sleep like babies after. First they break in, then tie you up, **** rob and/or kill you. Happens alot. Glad you are OK. If you don't have a gun, get one. They probably had one. And vote Fienstein and Boxer out of office while you are at it.

That took balls with your wife home and two big dogs.

I have insurance, so if they steal my Viper I'll just get a new one.

If they are in my house (garage) and my German Shephard leaves them with a bloody stump for an arm, at least the revenge factor from their lowlife family or friends isn't there.

If they manage to come in with bad intentions and get past the dog (and they better not hurt her) - my two friends Smith and Wesson will take care of them (24 hour security).

Glad everyone and everything was OK,

Howard

Most garage doors have a bar lock that will not allow the door to open even when the opener is actuated. That's what I set when I'm out of town. Get your gal a 12 ga. pump. Every crook on the planet knows the sound of a shell racking into the chamber of a shotgun. They will shop elsewhere.

Manny,
glad your lady was OK!!
Here is waht I have done.....I was in the alarm business for 20 years.

1. Motion lights that are on dim at night and get much brighter when motion is detected (they are available at Home Depot)In the back yard I have a halogin 500 watt
motion flood light.......(home depot)

2. My alarm has a setting so that when I am home I can
do away with the delay on all entry doors. Any door opened
and the alarm screams instantly (on my system, its called "stay no delay") Call your alarm company or read the book that came with it......you might have that setting and not know it.

3. This is over kill but I did it anyway.......I have outdoor security cameras that record EVERYTHING 24 hours a day. They see in total darkness too. I put in the system myself for about $1200.00 for 4 cameras and everything else.
I got all the stuff on ebay......and its good equipment.

VERY IMPORTANT!!! If your alarm stystem is triggered and wakes you up in the middle of the night DO NOT JUMP OUT OF BED AND TURN IT OFF!!! Many alarm systems will not connect to the monitoring station for 45 seconds after the system is triggered.......and by turning it off you stop it from connecting to the monitoring station at all.

Lastly....I installed a metal fire door on our master bedroom and bath room (thay are painted to match and no one can tell they are steel)....if an intruder does get in the home and I am not home to shoot him, my daughter can run in there and dead bolt the doors from the inside......its a safe room.. and would take an hour for someone to get in there with a fire axe. Also keep an old cell phone in there....even if its not activated it will still call 911.....

Buy guns you have easy access to from any area in your house, and let your friends and neighbors know you have lots of guns. If people know you have guns (since most thieves are acquaintances of friends and neighbors), you will not get robbed - it's that simple!

Make sure you keep the dogs out of the garage. And install a seperate motion sensor for it, that can be (de-)activated only from inside the house. Even if they open the garage door the alarm will start.

Friend has a nice sticker on the garage door, where he keeps his Countach, Gallardo and Murciélago.

"Intruders will get *** cellmates! I promise."

Dayuuum Manny,

I'm glad noone stole anything! Phew... Glad your girl is ok too!!

Got your message. Sorry dude,haven't called you back yet.... VERY busy.. Getting some niiiiiiice deals. Record 2 months. Off the wall here.

Gerald

Our garage door openers have a button that when pressed turns off the system that receives the signal from remotes. We do this every night just in case. I think it is called a "vacation lock feature"

Glad to hear everyone is safe.

Manny,
Was the garage door open or closed when the police arrived? If open, was it connected to the chain? Some thieves have a long bar with a hook they can pass through the top edge of the door and pull the chain release handle, then simply manually lift the door. Glad they got away with nothing and your family was okay. Getting burgled is the worst feeling.

The flood lights sound like a good idea. I think I'll look into those as well.

But most everything else has a "living in fear" sound to it, except for some of the firearm posts. No thanks, I'd rather lose something once or twice in my life than live in fear every damn day.

If you're not a gun person, please become one and get some formal training before thinking you are going to shoot bad guys in the middle of the night, after being scared into conciousness by an alarm. Otherwise it is a great way to get killed instead of just robbed.

Glad to hear your situation turned out fine and everyone is ok.

So, I was wondering what you guys have done, if anything, to secure your garage so that thieves aren't busting in in the middle of the night to steal your stuff?

I'm thinking about at least putting up some motion sensor flood lights outside the garage -- right now it is almost pitch black on my street and people could be at my garage doors and nobody would see them since there is only moon light.

Not sure what to do about the garage door opener frequency and keeping people from being able to so easily pop them open. Ideas? I have 3 Vipers I keep in my garage when all are accounted for, and I want them safe and not having to deal with an insurance company.

-Manny

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Manny,
Glad your security system did it's job. Many folks don't wire their garages, so that can make it an easy target for theives.

Motion sensing lighting is often your cheapest deterrent to crime - no criminal likes to work will being illuminated for all to see.

One other thing that you may want to consider. Most garage door openers have a locking feature that turns off the remote operation and makes the door only operable from the wall mounted / hard wired thing. We do this on our downstairs door - where the race car is - as it's attached directly to the house and heated and cooled. We don't want to open it by accident or have someone come by that has the same frequency (can happen...) so we lock it. It also may make your girlfriend feel more secure knowing that no one can open the door from outside.

Glad everyone is OK - and sorry she had to go through this.

Manny, does the alarm sound outside the home?

Mine does (two huge PA horns in the attic at each end of the house), that usually send 'em running.

There was a car alarm system - Cyclopse I think it was - anyway it had a revolving code that revolved too fast for a decoder to crack onto it.

It might be possible to find a house alarm with similar technology to prevent further decoder infiltrations.

re guns - Chads advice is VERY sound. It's all very brave to talk about what people will do if in this situation or that - but 90% of people woken in the night are in a state of shock or at least semi-shock to find they are not alone....

and when face to face with an armed criminal - their mind is still trying to read the situation while the hardened criminal just fires....

To have the reflexes and control to beat a criminal on their terms (the agressor tends to have the victim on the back foot) requires either proper training, or a complete lack of fear combined with some luck (a risky combination).

People can do anything when angry - but anger is not the normal first reaction in this situation... it is the fear of the unknown and the brain is desperate to assess the situation.... a dangerous place to be when facing someone trained and already on the edge.

I'd get training for you and your girl before trying to play hero like some suggest..... and BTW - if you kill a person - you won't get a good nights sleep - that is BS. You'll relive it 100 times no matter how convinced you are that you did the right thing and how often you tell yourself it was a good thing you did.

I'd avoid it unless forced.

Make the dogs sleep in the garage

Glad your girl is ok and the cars also.

DN

make a note for myself...check out Janni's parents garage. LOL! Just kidding...!

Manny, I bet you and your wife have that sick feeling in your stomach like you have been violated....it's not fun!

I am looking into a DVR security system myself...I will have it installed in my new built home and also the 500 watt halogen lights..they truley light up everything! I did one with a motion sensor and also went to radio shack and bought a outside motion sensor that alerts you if someone is walking on your property by giving you an alert from the inside. Person on the outside has no idea they have alerted you so there is a better chance of catching them or gives them less time to run from the police...but I think Cameras are the best...for the time being if you don't get real cameras, they make dummy ones that look real! Maybe a nice deterent.

Manny, does the alarm sound outside the home?

Mine does (two huge PA horns in the attic at each end of the house), that usually send 'em running.

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Nope, my alarm has 3 horns inside of the house and is loud as hell, but outside of the house with the doors/windows closed, you can barely here it. I'm thinking putting one inside of the garage will be goo. It damn near gives me a heart attack when the thing goes off.

As for the locking bolt that locks the garage doors in place regardless of whether you have a remote or not, mine no longer works since the door/railings were lifted to make it higher to allow a double park car lift in the garage.

Manny

What kind of video set ups are you guys using? Do you have them mounted outside of your garage, or they on inside pointing out?

I live in a gated community, but it's not a manned gate, so people can follow other cars in. My neighborhood is one of the nicest in this particular area, and there have been some car break ins before, but never out of a garage. I always park my Hummer right outside the garage doors since there is no room inside, so something video taping would be good.

With PC's and hard drives as cheap as they are, a digital recorder setup sounds like a good idea to me. I would need something that can record in very low light since it is WAAAY dark here. Suggestions?

Also, my electrical circuit breaker panel is accessable to anybody, so it takes 2 seconds to break it open with a screw driver and turn off all the power. The house alarm system is supposed to have a power back up (I have never tested it, but will now) but that would kill any flood lights, security equipment, etc. If I was a thief robbing a high end house with high end cars, I would assume the house has something in it and just cut the power.

I might also ask the alarm company to come out and install a wireless phone connection to the security system, so that it can call out whether or not the phones work.

Thanks for all the info guys.

Manny

Manny,


2. My alarm has a setting so that when I am home I can
do away with the delay on all entry doors. Any door opened
and the alarm screams instantly (on my system, its called "stay no delay") Call your alarm company or read the book that came with it......you might have that setting and not know it.

3. This is over kill but I did it anyway.......I have outdoor security cameras that record EVERYTHING 24 hours a day. They see in total darkness too. I put in the system myself for about $1200.00 for 4 cameras and everything else.
I got all the stuff on ebay......and its good equipment.

Lastly....I installed a metal fire door on our master bedroom and bath room (thay are painted to match and no one can tell they are steel)....if an intruder does get in the home and I am not home to shoot him, my daughter can run in there and dead bolt the doors from the inside......its a safe room.. and would take an hour for someone to get in there with a fire axe. Also keep an old cell phone in there....even if its not activated it will still call 911.....

Click to expand...

All very good things.

1)How much did it cost you to hae the fire doors installed and painted, and where did you get them?

2)My alarm system does have a STAY feature, and in fact that is what was being used (it arms everything but turns off the motion sensors so that you and your dogs can walk around the house without triggering anything.) I always assumed that any door opened would set it off in this mode, but the front door and garage still have a 60 second delay. I was told it is set this way so that people can leave and set the alarm when they have pets in the house that are over 50 pounds and would activate the motion sensors. I am going to call them today and find out how to program it so that there is no delay on anything when in STAY mode, which we only use when we're going to bed.

3) What kind of video system did you set up and how do you like it? Would you do anything different?

I also store my track car (96 race GTS) outside in my RV parking area. It's gated, but the gate isn't locked (yet) as we have a ton of construction going on in the back yard and have workers coming in and out from 6am till about 5pm. Very possible that one of these guys or their 'friends' were sent out as "the owner of this house has some nice cars, meng." A flood light out on the side and perhaps a single video camera would secure that whole set up as best as it could. Dog in the back yard would be barking too as they would be seing the whole thing.

-M

Manny, move to a better neighborhood..Problem Solved ! J/K

I hate to say it but do you think that it might be the grunt workers that are doing your landscaping ?? Sounds to me like these scumbags may have known you were out of town. ( Same thing happened to Glen / Confrontational )

Glad to hear Shannon's ok and nothing was stolen !

Cheers

J

Doh..Just read your above post. Looks like your thinking the same thing I was.

Very possible that one of these guys or their 'friends' were sent out as "the owner of this house has some nice cars, meng."

Both my garages are alarmed, security company signs are easily seen, wife and I are heavly armed and not afraid to splatter an intruder's brains on the wall. My best deterrent is a sign I had made which says "Warning - homeowner is armed. If you're caught in this house, you will be shot on sight".

If you're gone, you might try turning off the breaker to the garage door openers.

Good luck.

Manny I was trying to get my street coupe sorry I disturbed the neighbors. We have a sensor in the garage and two 125# german sheppards that seem to keep people away. The other thing you can do is put a home automation system in the house with video survellance so you can activate lights remote and also see who is in your home and tape it for the policia. Glad everyone at home is O.K.

Sorry to hear what happen, glad you were fortunate not to have anything stolen and your girl safe. Maybe think about what Shelby 3 suggested about putting an additional Bar Lock. They will not be able to get in no matter what radio gizmo they have that unlocks to code to your door. Maybe get rid of the remote door opening system altogether.

Glad they got nothing from you. I had/have a mossberg 12 gauge pump. This takes a couple of motions to load and release the safety. As my wife and son are not gun folks, I bought a bennelli 12 gauge automatic. One shell is always chambered and all that needs to be done is click the safety. Much easier for a novice or a sleepy person. 12 gauge weapons are the best for home defense, bar none, you only need to get close. We also have dogs--- three lil ankle biters-- not much to defend us. John

OK, now I am a bit confused. My garage door openers are Genie brand and they claim to have intellicode:

"Stop thieves from stealing your access code to get into your home
Select a new access code from 4.3 billion combinations each time you press the remote button
Each remote controller comes with its own continually changing access code, so there are no switches to set after installation
Deny access of unauthorized remotes "

So, if this is true, how does a thief open the garage? Do they have cheap transmitters now that are fast enough to go through millions and millions of codes very quickly? Doing the math, even it it could do a million codes a second, that could take 4,300 seconds or 71 minutes to go through 4.3 billion codes. My Clifford car alarm on the Viper has the same type of rolling access code technology. So I am guessing if they got the gear to get into the garage, they could simply use that on the car alarm too, right?

-Manny

Manny- Nothing to do with your topic but where did you get your front facia, is the front splitter included, and how much?

Re: &gt;&gt; Thieves trying to steal my Viper out of my garage last night!

I'd be pissed if someone stole my Viper... wait... I don't have one :S

OK, now I am a bit confused. My garage door openers are Genie brand and they claim to have intellicode:

"Stop thieves from stealing your access code to get into your home
Select a new access code from 4.3 billion combinations each time you press the remote button
Each remote controller comes with its own continually changing access code, so there are no switches to set after installation
Deny access of unauthorized remotes "

So, if this is true, how does a thief open the garage? Do they have cheap transmitters now that are fast enough to go through millions and millions of codes very quickly? Doing the math, even it it could do a million codes a second, that could take 4,300 seconds or 71 minutes to go through 4.3 billion codes. My Clifford car alarm on the Viper has the same type of rolling access code technology. So I am guessing if they got the gear to get into the garage, they could simply use that on the car alarm too, right?

-Manny

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This may be a freaky thought, but maybe they entered through your home?