Break In at Lomas Mariposas
There was a robbery a few nights ago at Lomas Mariposas. The break in happened in one of the long term rentals we have whose owner was in the States. I knew something was wrong when I saw that the potted plant that is on the balcony of the apartment was knocked down, but I wasn’t sure how the robbers got into the apartment until I looked around a little bit more.
It turned out that they had ripped the screen out of the small hallway window that goes into the kitchen above the sink. They then rocked the kitchen window until the locking mechanism disengaged and then opened it. They crawled in there.
So, I still didn’t know how the thieves got into the building. I thought maybe they had climbed up the metal grating that goes up the front of Lomas Mariposas, that would explain the turned over plant on the balcony. The gardener later informed me that the lock on the front gate had been broken. They had used something to pry the cover off of the lock so that they could slip a finger into the bolt and undo it.
The only things that went missing were the flat screen TV and a cell phone. The computer and all other valuables were left alone, it looks like somebody knew what they were going for.
My opinion of what happened is that it was only one person, they grabbed the TV and left. They seem to have left through the balcony doors and passed the TV to the landing of the stairs which is accessible from the balcony(where the plant was knocked over), then he crawled down into the stairway himself and exited through the gate.
I replaced the gate lock with the newer model of the same type of lock. The lock store told me that they no longer sell the old type of lock but the new one is very similar. It was pretty close, it had some design changes to make it sturdier but also didn’t quite fit the hole that the old lock used. I had to modify the door a little bit. I also got the new lock rekeyed to fit the old key, since changing keys is a bit of a hassle in a rental condo building. Rekeying the lock cost only $100 pesos and key copies have gone up to $12 pesos in almost every key shop, so with 9 units in the building it is more or less the same price. Installing the new lock took about 2 hours but it works great. It is still vulnerable to having somebody break it with a hammer and chisel like the old lock, but I have asked all of the tenants to start locking the deadbolt at night, so thieves won’t be able to do the same thing again.
I went to Telcel on saturday to report the cell phone stolen, the line there was atrocious but I finally made it. I explained to them the situation and it ended up not being that big of a deal to get the old phone canceled and the number transfered to another phone. Not so bad.
It is really too bad about this whole thing but I guess the upside to this is that in the last couple of days there has been a big uproar around Mariposas and with the surrounding buildings about security. We have been installing security bars in all of the sliding glass doors that do not have them and investigation secondary lock options for the windows. There has been discussion of sharing a security guard with the building below Mariposas.
The neighbors have also been talking about putting up some barbed wire or broken glass over the wall that separates our buildings, though I am not so sure as to how effective this will be. The glass is very ugly also, but I guess that is the price you pay for better security.
Real Life In Paradise is moving. Please click here to be redirected to the new address.
