Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Preface for clarification:
Our pond property is somewhat remotely located and there is no power on our property. We had two "buildings" on our property. One is a shed (approx 8' by 20') that was built by a local shed company that we store tools in and therefore refer to it as our "tool shed." The second is an Agricultural Building that is basically a garage that does not have power or water to it which we refer to as our "Ag building" (since that is how it was permitted). From the names of our two buildings and my screen name you should be able to determine that I am not very creative when it comes to naming things. Fortunately my ex-wife named my daughter or she probably would have been named "dependent number one" (sorry just some miscellaneous tax humor thrown in for good measure). We had not been to our property in over a year and a half... primarily due to my wife's battle with skin cancer - which I am happy to report that she has won.

The Good:
We now have a much closer relationship with our immediate neighbor and two Sheriff's deputies. We have 200 feet of new fencing installed and fortified. We have brand new door locks installed on our Ag Building. We have additional security hasps and bolt cutter- proof locks installed on our tool shed. The thieves didn't steal as much as they could have (we believe they got spooked by something) and they didn't steal the "Traveling Lures" which I have retrieved (hence the post in the other thread). The deputy has lifted some "viable" fingerprints which have been forwarded to a crime data base.

The Bad:
We received a phone call last week by our neighbor (a neighbor that shares a fence line with us at our pond property) that he thought he had heard vehicles or equipment on our property the previous evening. We asked our neighbor if he would mind investigating. He did and found our "tool shed" and "Ag Building" were wide open and he believed that several items were missing. We asked him to call the sheriff, which he did. A deputy responded to the scene and called us to tell us our property had been burglarized (again). The Deputy told us we needed to get up there ASAP. I canceled my appointments and JWHAP and I drove the 500 miles to our property.

When we arrived we found that our "tool shed" was broken into, apparently the thieves used bolt cutters to cut the locks off of both ends of the shed.

As for the Ag Building, the thieves drilled a hole through both a door locks. The Ag Building has a steel security door and had two locks on it, a normal door lock and a double sided deadbolt. A 3/8" or 1/2" inch hole was drilled into both locks which allowed them access. Prior to this event I did not realize two things (a) how easy it is to access virtually any property (b) there are videos on line detailing how to drill out a lock. All it takes is a decent drill and drill bit, which the thieves got by breaking into our tool shed and they then used our own the generator to power the drill. Sucks don't it?

The Ugly:
From the two buildings the thieves took: our Polarius Ranger, Yamaha generator, Husqvarna chain saw, four solar panels, heavy jackets, flannel shirts, emergency radios, my Rotozip, and many miscellaneous hand tools and personal items.

This is only a partial list the actual list is quite extensive - the estimated loss at this point will exceed $15,000. Ironically many things of value (all of the fishing poles, Swisher mower, and an outboard motor, a trolling motor) were not stolen. We believe that the thieves were interrupted or became scared off by something. One of the thieves cut him/her self as there was blood in the Ag Building and our first aid supplies were used.

They also took the wheels (rims and tires) off of our smaller utility trailer. They must have lifted up the trailer using a 2x4 that was nearby and unbolted the rims and tires. Then they just dropped the trailer onto the dirt.

They cut the chain to our boat and it was down by the pond (they took the chain that was securing the boat as well).

Six of our seven of our "security/game cameras" were stolen as well. Unfortunately the seventh camera did not capture any usable images. We had the game cameras secured by a steel locking cases and Python Locks. In three instances the locks on the locking cases were cut by bolt cutters and in three instances the actual Python Lock itself was cut.

The thieves accessed our property by cutting the barbed wire and pushing over the "T" posts to our fence on the west side of the property and driving onto the property. It appears as though they had accessed the property for quite a while - - the property was driven on so much that a road has been cut into the grass. We repaired the fence (in the pouring rain) and added many additional "T" posts to make this access more difficult in the future and pounded in some 4' rebar stakes along the fence line as well.

We believe that they had been reconnoitering the property for a while and removed the security/game cameras prior to the theft.

What hurts more than the monetary loss (and the loss of some very useful things) was the loss of several personal items that were given to us (my wife and I) by our fathers (both of our fathers have passed away). Those items cannot be replaced by money and make me sick just to think about them. My father gave me my first set of Craftsmen tools when I was 10 or so - the vast majority of them are gone.

If there is such a thing as Karma then the thieves have earned themselves a large steaming heap of bad karma. If I had caught the thieves myself they would now be feeding my beloved GSF.