Thieves are hiding cameras in the yards of homes in order to monitor when they can break in. Darsha Philips reports for the NBC4 News on May 28, 2024.
Thieves are getting high tech and creative in a scary way, hiding cameras in the yards of homes in order to monitor when to break in, according to authorities.
Lost Hills is just the latest neighborhood to be hit after a homeowner turned in a camera and battery pack to sheriffs that was found in their yard on Friday.
“It's invasive, it's scary,” Jim Spach, a resident of Saratoga Hills said.
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People who live in the Saratoga Hills community of Calabasas are checking their yards.
“Yeah, as soon as I get home I’m probably going to check the neighbors yard too,” Ryan Harris, a resident of Saratoga Hills said.
After one resident found a camera hidden in their flowerbed, the Lost Hills Sheriff's station put out this special bulletin letting the public know about these high tech thieves and their hidden cameras that can be remotely accessed to monitor homes – and later burglarize them.
“It just doesn’t make sense that you can’t live in your community and worry that when you come home you can be violated in some respect. That's wrong,” Kim Spaulding, a resident of Saratoga Hills said.
“We’ll start setting our alarm more. We’ve got an alarm, we will probably be much more diligent,” Spach said.
In the past month, cameras hidden in yards were found in several Southern California neighborhoods, including Garden Grove and Glendale.
“It makes me feel scared it makes me feel like we can’t live in a neighborhood that’s safe at all,” Michael Macho, a Glendale resident, said.
Police there arrested four Colombian nationals – all part of an apparent burglary tourism ring.
“Those houses keep being hit non stop like one a week,” Tammi Kazazian, a Glendale resident, said.
Law enforcement officials said they believe the same thing is happening in Saratoga Hills -- a theft group typically consisting of Chilean or Colombian nationals visiting on tourist visas for the sole purpose of surveilling and burglarizing homes.
“With technology right now, I am upset but I'm not surprised,” Spaulding said.
Detectives said these burglary rings also use WiFi jammers to turn off surveillance cameras and alarms when they break in so they go undetected.
