Police credit surveillance system for helping nab suspected burglars

RENTON, Wash. -- Police are crediting a Renton couple’s high-tech surveillance system for helping to nab two suspected burglars. This happened Thursday morning at a home in the 1300 block of North 28th Street.

As soon as these men stepped inside this Renton home, they were being recorded.

“I was at work and my husband was at work and got a text alert and he opened it up and could see a photo of a man in our house,” said the homeowner, who didn’t wish to be identified.

That’s when her husband called Renton police to their home. The couple there’s a good reason they got this high-tech surveillance system in the first place.

“We had been broken into twice in five months and so we had a bit of enough of that,” said the homeowner. “The last two times it happened to us, the police couldn’t really do anything. We never got any of our items back, they weren’t really able to catch people by the time they got home.”

This time turned out differently. Renton police say they were able to nab the suspects minutes after the burglary, and they’re crediting the couple’s surveillance system.

“We caught the suspects walking away from the scene,” said Renton Police Commander David Leibman. “It’s very rare especially with a traditional alarm, that would normally be a five- or 10-minute response.”

A system that didn’t just alert police, but one they say will now give them all the evidence they need to prosecute.

“The case is pretty much done now; we have video of the suspects in the house and then we arrested them a few minutes from the house,” said Leibman. “The evidence is irrefutable. This case is closed.”

At this point, a 34-year-old and a 48-year-old have been arrested on burglary charges. Police will be investigating whether they're connected to other crimes in the area.

As for the surveillance system, the couple said they purchased it at Costco for a few hundred dollars.