Burglars Can Ruin Your Holidays

One Tulsa family has learned the hard way to have extra home security. Their house has been hit at least 3 times since June. The victims think it's the same burglar every time. They've given

Wednesday, November 22nd 2006, 10:48 am

By: News On 6

One Tulsa family has learned the hard way to have extra home security. Their house has been hit at least 3 times since June. The victims think it's the same burglar every time. They've given Tulsa Police a tool to help nab the crook.

As News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin explains, the suspect was caught on tape.

"We came home and noticed all of our things were gone. It's just terrifying." Shelby Oakley thinks the crook strikes on Sundays while the family is at church. He says he's seen evidence of a break in at least three times. "A door that, the deadbolt wasn't fully engaged and that was pried open and then one time the bolt was kicked off on the inside of the house."

Oakley had security cameras installed after the first burglary. He hopes they'll help police track down the thief. A tape, recorded a month ago, shows a man in the upper left corner coming around the house and trying one door, then moving on. "All my wife's jewelry that we've accumulated over 37 years is gone. And to think this guy probably got ten cents on the dollar for it it's really sad because I worked hard for it."

He hopes an alarm system and flyers distributed throughout the neighborhood will stop the criminals. He says Tulsa Police haven't had much luck, but are taking a closer look at the tape. "They say they have a lot of these. There's a lot of evil out there and we've gotta come against evil as much as we can, we've gotta fight evil when we see it."

Oakley says the experience has changed him. "I was pretty naive. I didn't even think in those terms. A lot of times we left our door wide open. We'll never do that again."

The last burglary happened October 18th, anyone with information can leave an anonymous tip on the Crimestoppers hotline at 596-COPS. The family is offering an additional reward.