These are all very scary stories.

Years ago I left my dhs (then boyfriend) truck door unlocked after getting some cds out. Some guys came by in the middle of the night and picked it clean. We didnt have any idea until later in the wee hours of the morning I got a call form my dad on my cell phone asking if I was okay. He said that the police had just called his home looking for me. Theyd pulled some guys over and found my checkbook in their car, along with some other stolen property. My dh ran outside and discovered everything of value in his truck had been stolen. They even ripped the speakers out of the doors.

Years after this a police detective called looking for us, wanting to know if wed like to press charges for the thefts. He said the guys who had done it took off after that night and theyd been looking for them ever since and finally had found them. Unfortunately the statue of limitations ran out before he was ever able to bring the case to court. The detective called me several months later to tell me they did get charged with some other stuff and they both went to jail. Just not for stealing from us.

Ive had a weird OCD thing about locking the doors on our vehicles ever since.

That is such a bummer. Regarding locking the front door, make a sign on your exit door that says "Is the door locked? Is the oven off? " It sounds dumb but it catches you on the super tired days

Also my husband will NOT let me leave our garage door opener in the car. I have a fob that is our garage door opener that is actually on my keys so it goes in the house with me every night.

Also we have a reasonably inexpensive wireless alarm system that if it goes off, it calls our personal phones instead of a service which we really like. Every member of my family has the same setup and loves it. It has door, window and motion alarms. May be worth looking into if you have a small business.

No good. I am sorry. My hubby worked for an alarm company for about 5 years and said the thing that deters robbers from your house are lights. Our entire premise is lit at night an EVERYONE elses on our block are pitch black. Guess which house will MOST LIKELY get broken into? It can still happen but the odds are much lower. Pluse a security system really is an amazing thing. Its expensive but worth the peace of mind for me.

Betty, That's good to know. My husband has flood lights in the front of our house and our back has a bright light. All are on dusk to dawn (not motion). I kind of thought my hubby was being paranoid but apparently he's just really smart