Brazen Burglars Hit Montecito

Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas were rocked last week by a series of four burglaries, including one targeting an estate in our tight-knit community. The break-ins all occurred over the course of a single evening, Wednesday, Jan. 24, according to a statement from Raquel Zick of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. 

The modus operandi was consistent across the recent spree of burglaries – homes were being targeted that “backed up against open spaces such as golf courses as well as creeks, streams or the ocean.”

Of the four burglaries, two occurred in Carpinteria, with one in Goleta, and the other being in the 1500-block of Las Tunas in Montecito. The homes were being targeted between 6-10 pm. In these cases, the burglars were often accessing the house through the second floor and/or a window, although ground floor acccess has occurred as well. 

The homes being targeted were all unoccupied at the time of the break-in. In two of the cases, an alarm was triggered with a local well-established security company responding within minutes of the alarm being activated. The MJ spoke with Jim Frost, general manager of the security company and a retired California Highway Patrol Captain Commander and patrol officer of 31 years.

“There were four in one day last week, yes,” Frost confirmed. He described the perpetrators’ tactics, noting, “The burglars appear to hit around dinnertime and they tend to target houses that are completely vacant – nobody’s home. They will usually target the second story, not always, but they did in both [of the alarm responses].”

In the case of one of the alarm triggers: “The suspects were in a residence that was empty at the time of break-in. The homeowner happened to come home, realized someone was there, and hit a panic button – we were there within minutes. The suspects took off. They were gone, so there was no confrontation.”

In the other alarm response, the company and Sheriffs similarly responded within minutes of the alarm being triggered. The house was unoccupied at the time. 

“In the particular burglaries that I was out on, they broke a window out – not opening a door,” Frost stated. “Just broke a window and went through the window, therefore not setting off the alarm – unless somebody has a glass break detection sensor. But if the alarm is not set, the alarm will not go off. And a lot of time people don’t set those alarms when they leave for a short period of time.”

According to Frost, the burglars were specifically targeting home safes in order to make off with valuables. “At least in the four that I’m aware of here. They’re targeting safes. They access the safe in various ways. Try to defeat the safe, then take the contents, and then flee,” he revealed.

Frost emphasized that all of the houses were unoccupied at the times they were hit, conjecturing that the perpetrators may have staked out the homes in advance. “If the house was being watched, and they left, that’s when the suspects would know that nobody’s home,” he said. “If you’re watching a house, and you see everybody leave, that’s when you make entry, knowing that they’re not there.”

He noted that the conditions of this string of burglaries indicate a particularly sophisticated operation. “This group of suspects is very stealthy. If you’re going to be in a populated area and be that covert … they’re basically undetected. They weren’t seen getting ready to do the crime. They weren’t seen actually accessing a residence, which means they planned it. And then they weren’t seen leaving … They’re planning these burglaries and with in-depth planning.”

The recent string of break-ins bears striking similarities to a wave of “Chilean tourist burglaries” that has plagued affluent communities up and down the West Coast since 2016, according to an exposé published last year in The Atlantic magazine.

Quoting a special agent with the FBI, The Atlantic traced the onset of the crime spree to Chile’s 2014 inclusion in the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization program. “Word of mouth led more and more Chileans with larcenous plans to take quick vacations” to the United States, lured by tales of thieves returning home with suitcases full of valuable stolen goods, the report stated.

The Atlantic noted that the Chilean burglars carefully research targets in secluded areas seldom trafficked by neighbors or passersby. “The homes,” related L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau supervisor Michael Maher in The Atlantic article, “had values of $15 million, not $1 million…. It’s common that one burglary will yield $100,000.”

Frost ticked through a list of tips for local residents to protect themselves in light of the recent spate of break-ins, stressing the importance of home alarm systems – especially so-called “stay modes” that continue to monitor for broken glass even while homeowners are present. “So when the motion lights come on, the cameras pick up on somebody. There’s some very sophisticated AI cameras that can analyze motion, including infrared, so you can also see people at night. I think that those are all benefits, and certainly helps with early detection.” But Frost emphasized prudent alarm use even for quick trips, admonishing that “sometimes it can be hard to do that. You’ve got to do it.” 

With the burglars particularly targeting safes, Frost stressed the importance of having a high quality, heavy duty safe, ideally secured or anchored in the concrete of the home. “If you can conceal it – that’s even better. If you have a locking room or door, and then have the safe inside there that’s secured and locked, again: harder for people to access. You can even put an alarm on the safe itself as well.” 

He warned residents against oversharing vacation plans on social media, lest burglars monitor public posts to discern when houses will sit vacant. Setting social media accounts to private can help limit access to unwanted eyes. 

“Get to know your neighbors and have good communication with your neighbors so that they know your comings and goings, and likewise. So that if someone is gone, the neighbors can have a little bit more vigilance,” Frost advised. He also recommended getting to know your local sheriffs and watching their website for press releases. Also that security companies, including theirs, will offer vacation services, sending out a daily patrol to the home and retrieving mail and packages from the residency.

He said anyone who observes suspicious vehicles or persons should immediately notify law enforcement. “If you see something, say something,” stressed Frost.