Break-ins happen – almost one every hour in Calgary, but there was something unusual about a recent burglary in a home in the northwest neighbourhood of Edgemont.
“We pulled up and he said ‘oh no, the flyer is in the garage’,” Michelle Davidson said. She and her boyfriend had been away on a week-long vacation to Hawaii.
Davidson had seen the Global News story last month – featuring surveillance video of a man distributing flyers late at night to various locations around southwest homes – in an apparent attempt to see which residents were home and which were away. Police said it was the first time they had seen it in Calgary.
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“We had a friend come by and remove the flyers on Tuesday so they came back and put the flyers back up and they were pretty persistent,” Davidson said.
“They knew what they were doing.”
Indeed, this doesn’t appear to be a simple burglary. Chalk marks where their vehicles were parked in the driveway and the home’s internet cables were cut – effectively disabling and erasing any surveillance video uploaded online.
The front door was smashed in and their house was ransacked.
“In the first spare bedroom there was a dresser and the crooks had gone in and smashed every drawer off and the contents were just strewn everywhere,” Davidson said.
A locked safe, hidden in a crawl space was cracked and money was taken from inside. All the couple’s jewelry was also gone, including family heirlooms.
“Things my grandpa had made for me when I was a kid – just really irreplaceable items – my mom’s promise ring… things we’ll never be able to get back,” Davidson said.
But perhaps the most valuable thing – a sense of security – also disappeared with their possessions.
“I don’t feel safe in my own house.”
Calgary police said they’re investigating the break-in, but not the flyer aspect of the case. They said at this time – it appears to be an isolated occurrence.
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