New Scotland Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, December 22, 2011
Victim of burglary sees similar pattern
NEW SCOTLAND — Last week’s story about an unsolved home burglary on Route 156 in town was all too familiar for another New Scotland resident.
“The same thing happened to me,” she said. (The Enterprise is withholding the name of the crime victim.) She, too, lives on a busy, main road — Route 155.
On Nov. 1, she returned home to find the lock on her front door removed. “They went straight to the master bedroom where everybody stupidly keeps their valuables,” she said. “They stole $300 in cash.”
A month later, on Dec. 1, two packages that had been delivered to her front porch were stolen. “It was $350 worth of Christmas gifts,” she said. But that part of the story, at least, had a happy ending. “Both merchants agreed to replace the items,” she said. “I had them sent to my office.”
The Albany County Sheriff’s Office has investigated the thefts — “J.T. Campbell knows me by name,” she said — but to no avail. She has now installed a home security system.
The inspector quoted in last week’s story noted how thieves can make an easy exit on a busy road. The Route 156 resident had another thought about living on a busy road, “People are going 40 or 50 miles an hour. They aren’t looking” to see strange vehicles or a burglary in progress, she said.
This wasn’t the first time she was burglarized. In 2009, “All my antique silver was stolen,” she said. “Luckily, he pawned it. The police went to the pawn shops and got it back,” she said.
“That guy’s in jail,” she concluded. “So I know it can’t be him, but someone’s out there doing this to us.”
— Melissa Hale-Spencer