Surveillance video catches brazen burglar kicking in door of University Place home
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. -- A burglar can be seen on surveillance video kicking in the door of a University Place home, where he stole a gun, a watch and a WSU blanket Monday.
"It just sucks, it sucks to have somebody come in your house," the resident said in an interview Wednesday.
The resident, Samuel, asked that he not be identified for his safety.
He said he came home Monday to find the door to home kicked in -- and this video of the thief doing it.
"My stomach was upset, I couldn`t eat dinner that night, I had a hard time sleeping," he said.
Pierce County sheriff's detective Ed Troyer said, "Well, on the video you see the subject look around, go up and kick the door with tremendous force. He gets it open on the first kick."
Troyer said it doesn't look like the thief's first burglary, but he didn't realize that there were surveillance cameras catching his break-in.
"He`s obviously coming out of the residence carrying the things from inside and then he`s looking around to make sure that nobody sees him before he flees the residence."
Most concerning is the theft of the weapon.
"We definitely want to get this guy caught," Troyer said, "cause he`s making his living at doing burglaries and a lot of times these stolen guns end up in homicides and on the street and in hands where they don`t belong."
The owner of the home said he is just glad he had such a good surveillance system.
"I wish sometimes these guys, these people who do this stuff, would have it happen to them," Samuel said. "I just hope he gets caught."
Troyer said the suspect appears to be in his 20s, with a medium build, and a dark brown, thin mustache and goatee. If you know him, Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000. Call the hotline at 1-800-222-TIPS.