The Victim: Bryan Robbins
The Crime: Burglary of a motor vehicle
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 8
Time: Between 9 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.
Location: 7300 block of Dominique
The storm ended, but a crook found an opportunity.
Like many men and women, Bryan Robbins loves to spend time golfing. He has been a golfer for almost two decades, and plays regularly at Keaton and Tennison parks here in Dallas.
On the evening of Sept. 8, storms ripped through the metro area, including a couple of tornados that touched down in Dallas. Robbins had just returned home and raced inside after parking his car. His King Cobra irons and Callaway drivers, valued at $1,500, were still in his trunk.
Unfortunately, amid the crazy weather that day, he forgot to lock the car.
“I usually lock it,” Robbins says. “I guess I was just nervous that day.”
Robbins parked the car, along with his wife’s car, in front of his home under a streetlight only 50 feet from the house. Unfortunately, that was not enough to prevent a crook from taking advantage.
“Someone just opened the door and popped the trunk,” he says. “Then they got all my golf equipment. They were fairly expensive, to say the least. I also had my gold clubs stolen five years ago.”
His wife’s car also was also broken into, and then the glove box pried open. Fortunately, nothing of value was in her car.
“It’s irritating,” Robbins says of the crime.
Dallas Police Lt. Mackie D. Ham of the Northeast Patrol Division says leaving a car unlocked is a green light for thieves.
“The second big issue is with leaving valuable items inside of the vehicle. This is a big ‘no–no’,” he says. “To help with offense prevention, we must have cooperation from the citizens. Many offenses can be prevented by locking your vehicle, and taking any valuable items out of the vehicle. Many times, a locked vehicle will deter the criminal who is just walking along looking for a crime of opportunity. The best idea is not to leave any valuable items in your vehicle.”
As for retrieving stolen items, Ham notes the following: “We do have a pawn shop unit that makes weekly visits to pawn shops across Dallas, and does research items that were pawned versus items stolen over the past week or so. If a victim finds their stolen clubs at a pawn shop, they should notify officers.”
