'Career' burglars popping up in Mat-Su

PALMER -- Burglaries of homes and businesses -- a longtime problem in the Mat-Su -- may be taking on an even darker tone here.

An Alaska State Trooper from the Palmer office says he's begun noticing career burglars operating here in recent months. Many times they're people who began burglarizing as juveniles and found ways to temporarily beat the system, spurring them to more crimes, according to Trooper Dave Willson.

"One told me he found it exciting because you never know what will happen when you enter a home," Willson said.

He spoke Tuesday during the Palmer Lions Club luncheon about crime trends in the Valley and how residents can protect themselves.

Willson, who conducts follow-up investigations after other troopers have responded to initial burglary reports, believes man's best friend may be a more effective deterrent than the most sophisticated electronic gadget.

"Dogs keep burglars away, there's no doubt about it," he said. "Burglars are generally fearful people, and a dog is a guaranteed confrontation."

Silent alarms are not particularly valuable even if they're wired to an alarm company, Willson added. That's because burglars often take only 10 to 15 minutes to do their work and are long gone by the time an alarm summons help.

Sound alarms, even if not connected to a monitoring agency, are probably more effective in scaring off an intruder, he said.

Recording the serial numbers of firearms is vital to recovering them after a theft, Willson said. That way a computer check by police can determine if the gun was stolen.

He also advised people to put their initials or other identifying mark onto electronic goods, tools or any items that might tempt burglars. Willson recalled one case in which a man had scratched his initials onto every piece in a tool set. It was stolen and the burglar filed off the initials on all but one piece -- with that sole oversight accounting for his arrest.

"I would not have been able to make that case if he hadn't had his initials on the tools."

Willson said houses in remote locations off main roads and those surrounded by trees are particularly vulnerable. Criminals can cruise back roads on ATVs and case a house to see if anyone is home. If there are no footprints or tire tracks in a driveway for several days after a snowfall, it's a red light announcing a vacant house.

Sometimes, burglars put a coating of superglue on a house's doorknob and come back a day or two later to see if the invisible crust has been broken by someone having turned the knob. If not, they know the house is vacant.

Too often, Willson noted, people think they are safe and simply leave the house unlocked.

The Mat-Su is susceptible to burglaries because there are so many homes in remote areas and an abundance of recreational structures only occupied part of the year, Willson said. People force their way in using crowbars or large screwdrivers up to 2 feet in length.

As for pawn shops and unloading of stolen merchandise, Willson said the Municipality of Anchorage requires pawn shops to report weekly activity to the police. No such ordinance exists in Mat-Su.

"That would sure make my job easier," Willson said.

Why do people burglarize?

"A lot of times they're lazy and don't want to work. And some burglars are motivated by drug addiction. That's a big problem in the Mat-Su, particularly for prescription drugs."

OxyContin is particularly prized among some people for its heroin-like effects, Willson said. Those who use OxyContin legally take it as a pain killer, with a 12-hour time-release cycle. However, those trying to get high on the prescription substance override the time-release factor by crushing the pill, adding water and heating it -- then injecting it into a vein, Willson said.

"A lot of burglars are looking for it," he said.

One 80-milligram tablet of OxyContin sells for $80 on the street, Willson said. A local pharmacist said Tuesday the average price to those with prescriptions is $291 for a 30-tablet bottle of 80-milligram OxyContin -- or about $9.75 per tablet.

The pharmacist added that most Valley pharmacists no longer carry OxyContin because of the threat of robbery or burglary.