Police offer the following suggestions for those leaving their residences for an extended period of time:
Never post vacation photos or information on the Internet until you’ve returned home.
Ask a friend or neighbor to keep an eye on your house while you’re away. Have a neighbor cut your grass or drive up your driveway if it has snowed.
Be careful what you say on your answering machine or voice mail. Callers don’t need to know that you’re not home — they just need to know that you can’t come to the phone right now.
Consider notifying the police if you’re going on vacation. No need to let them know about a weekend getaway, but do call them if you’re leaving town for longer than a week. If you have a security alarm, leave a house key and the code with someone you trust, and provide the police and alarm company with their name and phone number.
Leave your curtains exactly as you usually keep them when you’re home, since noticeable changes could hint that you’re not around anymore — especially if your curtains are uncharacteristically left closed for two weeks. Move expensive items, like jewelry or computers, out of plain sight if they’re visible from the window.
Don’t leave your lights on at home throughout your entire vacation in an effort to make it look like someone is in the house. Instead, purchase a light switch timer that can turn your lights on and off automatically according to a programmed schedule.
Stop mail and newspaper delivery. A week’s worth of papers piled on your front step could signal to criminals that you’re out of town.
If a criminal figures out you’re away on vacation, it’s likely that he or she will check your porch for a spare key. So reach under the mat, into the mailbox, above the door frame or into the flower pot and remove your spare key before you leave on your vacation.
Police are warning residents not to tip off potential thieves by posting vacation photos and information on the Internet until they’re home.
Maj. Mark Hoffman, of the Middletown Division of Police, said with “technology advances” residents need to take extra precautions before they leave for an extended period of time.
They no longer can just stop the mail and newspaper and feel secure.
“Don’t go on Facebook and post, ‘I’m having a great time in Aruba,’ or ‘See you all next year,’” Hoffman said. “That’s just one more clue not to leave. There are people who actively look for that. Once you get that information out there in Cyberspace you don’t know where it will go.”
That information could land in the hands of a thief as one Middletown couple recently realized.
While vacationing in Florida, a couple posted pictures on Facebook, and they believe that’s why a thief broke into their Daniel Court residence on Jan. 3 while they were away.
The Journal-News is not identifying the residents because they’re concerned for their safety.
The owners said they have surveillance cameras inside and outside their residence, and the footage shows a man walking in the living room, then entering the bedroom. He is pointing a gun.
At one point, the suspect hides his face from the camera, then later cuts the cable to the surveillance camera outside the residence. They didn’t recognize the man on the surveillance camera, they told police.
Police have posted a picture on the suspect on their Facebook page, and they’re asking for help identifying the man.
The home owner said she believes the suspect entered through the rear garage door. The video surveillance shows a white male in his late 20s, early 30s, medium build, short in height, wearing a white hoodie and gloves, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Jon Rawlins at 513-425-7742.
On Jan. 3, the woman who lives in the home called her father and told him they had lost the Internet connection, so he went to the residence. When he opened the front door, he realized the home had been ransacked.
“You know that feeling you get,” the man said. “I didn’t know if he was still in there.”
The man then called Middletown police.
The suspect stole a PlayStation 4, about 10 video games, women’s sunglasses, ceramic piggy bank, a passport and an old set of keys, according to the police report.
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