Alexa Hodgins didn’t realize two security cameras had been stolen from the front porch of her Willoughby home early Tuesday morning (Oct. 8) until her one-year-old son Kieran spotted it the next day.
“He said, ‘cameras gone,'” Hodgins told the Langley Advance Times.
She reviewed the feed from the cameras to her cell phone and saw a man in a hoodie, with what appeared to a scarf or some other covering that concealed his face, striding across the lawn to their front porch, then hopping up and removing two of the wireless security cameras mounted there.
Footage from one of the two stolen wireless cameras shows it remained connected, and recording, after the thief tore it down and stuffed it into his pocket.
After the robber moved out of wireless range, the signal stopped.
Hodgins reported the theft to police and posted video from three security cameras online to alert neighbours to the theft.
What Hodgins found especially concerning was the fact the theft took place at 4:08 a.m., just minutes before she normally gets up to get ready for work.
That, and what appeared to be a can of bear spray visible in the thief’s pocket.
It isn’t the first time her family has been struck by theft, Hodgins related.
Shortly after they moved into their new home, a planter was stolen from the same front porch, and the crook was recorded by their security video cameras.
Thanks to that, the thief was identified by police and the planter was returned.
People stealing the actual security cameras was a new one for Hodgins.
“It was the first time I heard of it.”
There was speculation on the Facebook page she posted to that the thieves might have been trying to kill the surveillance video cameras so they could return, but the house still had working security cameras after the thefts.
“And we’ve bought new cameras,” Hodgins added.
Estimated value of the two stolen cameras was about $500.
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
