Determined burglar

[cledry]

Last week on Thursday evening we get an emergency call to go and patch the back door of a local business. The door has a Securitech Trident on it and the enterprising crook(s) had drilled a series of 3/8" holes near the main bolt the bottom bolt and the dead pin. I assume they used something like one of those inexpensive inspection scopes from Harbor Freight to have a look to see what they were up against. So we patched up the holes and provided a quote to install a steel plate to the inside of the door.

Early Friday morning we get a call that the same store had been hit and this time the crooks managed to get in. We needed to get out and secure the store. So we arrive to find someone had used a cutting torch to cut through the door and then crawl into the store. Keep in mind this is on a fairly busy road with a hospital just down the street and one would assume traffic at all hours. So we patched the door again. This time we were told to replace the door within 24 hours. A new Securitech Trident was sent out overnight shipping and we sourced a unifit slab door. Unfortunately the door on the building was shorter than the one we got from Ceco (Ceco 16 ga doors always seem too long) so we had to trim it in the field.

So here's the pics for your entertainment.

[Squelchtone]

nice quality work! I see why they did what they did, does the business not have any motion sensors? I only see the contacts at the top of the door and the annoyance alarm if they had tripped the Trident.

Does your shop install CCTV? It might be time for a couple cameras covering each other to cover that door. I'm curious, can you share what kind of business it is?

again, great job with the repairs and replacement work, top notch!
Squelchtone

ps. remember the foil alarms that used to be around windows back in the day? It would be interesting if there was a product available for commercial doors such as the one in the picture where it worked on the same idea but instead of just a loop around the outer edge of the door it was like the pattern your car's rear window defroster uses. Brake a trace and it sets off alarm. It could be applied using some sort of 3m double sided tape and could some in different sizes, a pre made size to peel and stick just for the area where they cut through, and a bigger one that cover the entire door and is customizable to go around obstacles and other door hardware.

[spuds]

Ideed Determined burglar WoW

[cledry]

nice quality work! I see why they did what they did, does the business not have any motion sensors? I only see the contacts at the top of the door and the annoyance alarm if they had tripped the Trident.

Does your shop install CCTV? It might be time for a couple cameras covering each other to cover that door. I'm curious, can you share what kind of business it is?

again, great job with the repairs and replacement work, top notch!
Squelchtone

ps. remember the foil alarms that used to be around windows back in the day? It would be interesting if there was a product available for commercial doors such as the one in the picture where it worked on the same idea but instead of just a loop around the outer edge of the door it was like the pattern your car's rear window defroster uses. Brake a trace and it sets of alarm. It could be applied using some sort of 3m double sided tape and could some in different sizes, a size just for the area where they cut through, and a bigger one that cover the entire door and is customizable to go around obstacles and other door hardware.

I can't be too specific about the business other than it is a mobile phone business. The alarm wasn't tripped because the door was never opened. The motion sensors are in the showroom. The stock is secured in another room with a Securitech 4840 MP Police Lock. There is a camera outside and multiple cameras inside which captured the entire thing. Basically the thief used a cordless drill, cordless sawzall and cutting torch to gain entry in short order. Crawled into the store and stood up, dusted himself off, took off his mask in front of the camera, turned around and crawled out. Never took anything. Usually they just drive a stolen car through the front doors and grab stock that is on dispay which is very little and has tracking capability.

[cledry]

Should mention from start to finish was a little over 3 hours of work. Cutting the door to size and primering the cut took at least 30 minutes. One man for 3.5 hours which included paper work, IVR in and out, clean up and taking photos as well as pulling the old door. A second man was brought in for the final 2 hours to install the door and hardware. Normally the hardware install is a one man job, but we always use two men for safety when hanging commercial doors. If we had been pressed we would have just used the 2nd man to hang the door and cart off the old door. It is nice to have a second guy eyeballing the drill to make sure it is going straight and taking over when the first guy starts to flag a bit.

[billdeserthills]

What a great job! It looks magically expensive though,

[C locked]

Any chance you have photos of their first attempt?

[MBI]

...Crawled into the store and stood up, dusted himself off, took off his mask in front of the camera, turned around and crawled out.

Oh, the stupidity...

[Jacob Morgan]

Looks like he started with the torch then found that slow going and switched to the saw, maybe no experience with a torch? That was one ugly cut, not just crooked but big globs of molten metal. I rarely use my oxy-acet torch and can do a lot better than that. Probably not the first suspect if someone starts burning through safes in the area. Using a Sawsall on a metal door had to be really loud.

With the torch going through the door I'm a little surprised a fire alarm did not go off. Maybe the only fire alarm in that area was a flow sensor on the sprinklers and it did not get hot enough to pop off a sprinkler? That might be something to think about: could adding a smoke detector catch people trying to burn through? Not that that happens very often.

Nice looking patch job until the door came in. Good reason for a business to have a relationship with a real locksmith.

[billdeserthills]

Looks like he started with the torch then found that slow going and switched to the saw, maybe no experience with a torch? That was one ugly cut, not just crooked but big globs of molten metal. I rarely use my oxy-acet torch and can do a lot better than that. Probably not the first suspect if someone starts burning through safes in the area. Using a Sawsall on a metal door had to be really loud.

With the torch going through the door I'm a little surprised a fire alarm did not go off. Maybe the only fire alarm in that area was a flow sensor on the sprinklers and it did not get hot enough to pop off a sprinkler? That might be something to think about: could adding a smoke detector catch people trying to burn through? Not that that happens very often.

Nice looking patch job until the door came in. Good reason for a business to have a relationship with a real locksmith.

Thing is now that most alarm companies don't have their own security people, every alarm is becoming the policeman's job to check
on. That must really add to the cops workload, no way can they have time to personally investigate Every alarm in a timely fashion.

That's why a few years ago, when I owned a gun store I installed a tear gas type alarm. Apparently they are used predominately in
pawn shops. I made several mistakes with my alarm and the red pepper gas deployed several times without my intention--really
clears out the shop too! Once you get a lungful of pepper spray you know all you really still want is fresh air and some cool water,
because by then your face is on fire too.

[cledry]

Any chance you have photos of their first attempt?

If you look carefully at the shots with the existing door you will see a bolt head near the plate on the hinge side and one near the plate on the bolt side, those and one in the cut out area are all that showed from the first attack. We put sex bolts in the holes and that is what you see.

[C locked]

Oh, so the first "attack" really was just a probe
Someone who thought it was a another type of crashbar

I saw the coverup but a cover doesnt show the damage caused
Wanted to see if could see tool marks

Cledry
Do you always take photos of jobs before you start? And once finished?
Or just this one in amazement of wonton damage?

[shutterstuff]

Amazing! Both the break in and the repair.

How many locksmiths do door installations? I don't and my mentor in 45 years didn't. Being a one man shop, I feel it is not something I want to tackle.

[cledry]

Oh, so the first "attack" really was just a probe
Someone who thought it was a another type of crashbar

I saw the coverup but a cover doesnt show the damage caused
Wanted to see if could see tool marks

Cledry
Do you always take photos of jobs before you start? And once finished?
Or just this one in amazement of wonton damage?

We are required by the NSP (National Service Provider) to provide clear before and after photos of all jobs. Some NSPs even require us to send them while on the job, others within 4 hours and others are more flexible.

Jobs like this one will go on our FB page at some point.

[Jacob Morgan]

That's why a few years ago, when I owned a gun store I installed a tear gas type alarm. Apparently they are used predominately in
pawn shops. I made several mistakes with my alarm and the red pepper gas deployed several times without my intention--really
clears out the shop too! Once you get a lungful of pepper spray you know all you really still want is fresh air and some cool water,
because by then your face is on fire too.

I remember seeing those advertised in Shotgun News back in the day. Apparently some old safes have tear gas inserts--safe techs probably have interesting experiences finding those.