Carson City mom concerned about car theft uses baby monitor to track thief, son arrested
A Carson City woman who was concerned about car burglaries in her neighborhood used a baby monitor device to track down the thief, only to learn that it was her own son who was allegedly stealing from a vehicle.
According to Capt. Clay Wall of the Carson City Sheriff's Office, there had been a spike in vehicle burglaries during the month of July and investigators learned there were similar patterns being used in the thefts.
"One of the common denominators in these burglary cases was that the vehicles were left unlocked and property was left inside," according to Capt. Wall in a press statement. "The Carson City Sheriff's detective division worked with surrounding agencies and was able to recover some of the stolen property and make arrests."
While there are ways that citizens can help deter vehicle burglaries, (listed below) Wall stated that "one of our Carson City residents used a different method, and placed a baby monitor inside an area that was being burglarized over and over."
When the alleged car burglar came back to the neighborhood, "the citizen calmly called us when she heard the thief over the baby monitor," Wall wrote in the statement.
"We arrived on scene in time to see the thief walking out with an arm full of property. Her son was arrested and charged with the crime of burglary," Wall said in the statement. "A little different technique, but it worked."
There are other devices like the Driveway Patrol that are inexpensive, run between $15 to $30, easy to use, are battery operated and wireless, which can help give an early intruder warning, according to Wall.
"Some of our local tool stores in town carry this device and it works very well," Wall concluded.
The following are some tips provided by the Carson City Sheriff's Office that might help deter vehicle burglaries:
— Park vehicles in a locked garage
— If you park your vehicle outside, lock all doors
— Store property out of view or remove from vehicle
— If you have to store property in the vehicle, store it in the trunk out of view
— Trust your dog, they usually will alert you when they hear an unusual noise
— Park your vehicles in a direct line-of-sight from a house window
— Park your vehicle in a lighted area
— Use a vehicle alarm
— Install a motion light overlooking the driveway
— Report suspicious activity in your neighborhood
— Use other alarm devices