My father-in-law has put it to me to find a good way to stop a thief that has been breaking into his house up in the mountains. (apparantly I have a devious mind!?)
The info:
They only go to the house on the weekends. There’s no nearby neighbors. It’s basically just way out there and surrounded by trees. The theif obviously strikes during the week. He only takes food, drinks and alcohol (un-opened bottles only) because they don’t leave anything else of value in there. The house has bars and a strong front/back door. But he’s broken the bars and back door already. I guess bars mean nothing when you have time. He’s robbed the neighbors as well. And apparantly he only strikes at night, but I’ve no idea how they assume that.
Other info: They pretty much are possitive who the thief is, but have no proof. The guy got out of prison on an 8 year sentence. They believe he’s the same guy that stole their scooter from that house because the police found it near his house.
My solutions:
Buy a decent bottle of wine. Use a syringe to inject some sort of legal poison into it. Set it out for him to steal. Problem solved! Only problem with this, he may give it to someone else. And even if he drinks it himself (and I have no problem with a thief dying) with laws and lawyers the way they are, WE would probably end up getting in trouble. So scratch that idea.
Electrify the bars. Won’t kill him, but would keep him away. Again, NO neighbors and NO reason for anyone to be up there (especially up there grabbing the bars). However, if he got hurt, he could always claim he was lost and was knocking on the windows or something - basically getting us in trouble.
The only other thing I can think of are flood lights and/or security company. But being way out there, be could just break them and nobody would hear/know. So ultimately wouldn’t make a difference. And they don’t really want (or can’t afford) to pay for the security system.
Anyone have any ideas on how to stop him? I would REALLY prefer a legal way to hurt/maim or utterly destroy him, but I’ll settle for just detering him from breaking in.
(Joking ways would be fun to read…but seriously, any good ways?)
Just put an ungodly amount of laxative in the wine or whatever else. He won’t die - well, probably not but the loss of, er, water, will be traumatic - and it will make him think twice about stealing anything from the house again.
Put a door mat inside of the back door, atop a thin stiff sheet of something, with a couple springs supporting the inner edge, keeping it off the floor. Under this, place a thin air bladder, with an air hose coming from it. Rig something to hold the other end of that air hose at face level, pointing at the intruder’s face. Blow into the hose, filling the air bladder. Clamp the hose 4" from the end. Pour in nasty stuff like chili powder to fill those 4". Plug with a cork. Unclamp the hose. When the thief steps on the mat, he will depress the air bladder, forcing the cork and chili powder out in a cloud directed at his face. Test on your mother in law to see if it works.
Method 2: rig a box full of rat traps above the inside of the door, with a door-activated wire to dump them on the thief.
Method 3: Get those super adhesive mouse trap boards, a whole bunch. NAIL them to the floor inside the door in a one meter wide by two meter long area. Set a strong, heavy wire at the base of the door to trip the thief as he enters, making him fall face first onto the traps. (EDIT: optionally, add a few thumbtacks on the glue boards, heh heh.)
The wine thing sounds feasible; you could always argue that you were using the wine bottle for storage; how were you to know that he’d break in and drink it/give it away?
I also think that electrifying the bars or putting razor blades on them should be fine; the police obviously aren’t doing much to deter intruders.
Since it’s Halloween and they’re widely available, you could get one of those motion-activated spiders that scuttles down from the ceiling. Might want to put down paper in case he has an accident.
Put up mirrors so that it looks like there’s someone there.
Leave him a note letting him know that you’re on to him and you’ve got footage from your hidden camera.
Leave tasty snacks filled with ex-lax lying around.
My husband’s suggestions:
-Put up a “no trespassing sign” with a waiver(You’re not allowed to enter, and if you do so, it’s at your own risk.)
-Dig holes near the windows (if it’s unpaved) and put animal traps in the holes. Put the traps in containers of ink so he can’t use his shoes anymore, assuming he wears shoes.
-Booby trap the house with containers of ink over the doors, preferably very permanent ink, and partially close each door in the house.
-Booby trap the doors with hammers.
Whatever happens, I hope you can get this guy to stop!
Edit: I just saw Dragonbones’ ideas; much better than mine, especially the sticky mats. Well done!
Persons I know have faced this exact problem elsewhere - not on Taiwan.
Here are 2 things that have worked.
You say you have a solid idea who the culprit is. The aggrieved party and one more person go and visit this person. They sit down and tell him, 'We have a problem. Someone is breaking into our home and stealing from us. Nothing of value; just drinks and small things. But they are causing damage to our property. Property that we worked hard to afford and enjoy.
This has to stop. Now we want you to know that we know you know who is doing this. We also want you to know that if it happens again, we are going to hold you responsible. We do not want to do this, but we have to protect what is ours.
If it happens again, we, or someone we chose, is going to find you and make your life very unpleasant. We do not want this to happen.
Please tell who is doing this what will happen to you if this happens again."
Another tact that was tried.
Same thing as to the visit with a ‘friend’:
“We are having break-ins at our 2nd home. We want to stop this happening. We know who you are and that you live here and have a good knowledge of what goes on up here.
We will pay you NT$!000 (Amount is just for example) per month to make sure that these break-ins do not happen in the future.
We know you can do this and would like you to help us make this stop.”
Frankly, both have been successful - but both require someone making the contact who can present the idea that very bad things will happen to the guy if he does not agree to the suggestions.
Also, don’t do this if you are not willing to carry through with the ‘suggestions.’
A well hidden infra red camera inside the house set up to capture him taking choice items, another at the entrance to catch him arriving and leaving with the loot, no flood lights or surprises, just IR cameras that he won’t notice… Arrange a meeting after you have the footage and set a monthly “stay out of jail price” that he’ll pay your in-laws until say 200% of the value of what they think he’s nicked has been paid off… If he’s an ex con he’s likely out on some kind of probation / parole and another strike would send him back plus extra… If you’ve got hard copy footage of him in the house, never mind taking the stuff, you’re made in the shade and he’s up the wrong creek inadequately prepared…
Just don’t leave the goods that the thief loves in the house (wine, food & other stuffs), imagine taking all the trouble to break the bars and getting nothing.
Or with a little fee, I can ask my friend to see if she can let you borrow her little Camilla (my friend’s fat snake pet, always hungry never satisfied kind of gal)
DB’s idea is good, but without the chilly powder. A puff of air upon entering my make him think there’s a ghost in there blowing in his face. Making the house appear haunted should keep him a way.
I also like the laxative idea–just don’t forget what you’ve spiked and eat it if the thief doesn’t take it!
I like the old Indian proverb, or whatever it is, that goes, “If a man steels a pot with a snake in it, do you stop him? Or do you let nature take its course?” So I think you should give this guy a snake. Snakes crawl into boxes and containers all the time. Put one into something he’s likely to take.
Short of that, one of those kinds of things banks use when they give you money when you rob them. You know, those things the explode and stain your skin and clothing? It would be hard for him to explain and make him easy to spot.
Use video cameras to see which manner he gains entry. Prepare a point ambush, for either route of ingress or egress. Make the bastard run a withering gauntlet.
Later, you can say you slipped. And that you have ‘advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage’.
The problem with aggressive protection schemes are they can incite further damage, retribution or even arson. Catching a thief needs to be done with care.
Deterring a thief
Deafening heavy duty burglar alarm inside and outside the house.
Motion sensitive floodlights
Note inside the house saying the drinks have been poisoned (but they aren’t )
Note inside the house saying you know who they are and if they take anything again they will pay serious penance.
Recorded dog bark played on a loop.
Automatic light settings (turns lights on and off at various times).
Catching a thief
Clean inner door handles on departure. Get the police to take fingerprints after a break in.
Install a silent alarm that informs the local police there is a break-in in progress.
Leave something they can’t resist taking. Hide a small tracking chip inside (can be located via GPS).
If he’s a drunk and hangs around a local area, leave low quality counterfeit money in the house (color photocopies will do fine). Local traders will report and identify him when he uses it. Inform the police before you do this.
Hidden webcam to record all events.
Be sure to give us an update when this is all over
There is a free software you could use called zoneminder www.zoneminder.com
It can record from a CCTV card or from a standard webcam.
You can buffer the footage and only record what is in the buffer if motion is detected witch will make you able to record from 20sec before he enters the frame.
This make you able to get all the good stuff without filling the hard disk with nothing.
It can record to a local hard disk or to a ftp server if you got a internet connection.
I guess a internet connection could be done by a mobile inetenet device.
I have used this in the past in our home after a brake in, but after installing alarm system my wife insist we don’t use it to save electricity.
Since making up traps is funny I say you sett up a bear trap just inside the window. Those metal jaws you know.
I think some super glues don’t harden before okygen is lacking and therefore won’t harden before it’s cowered like if someone grabs it with there hand.
I know I had some super glue I would not touch if I spelled it unless I threw water on it first witch would make it instant hard.(the glue)
