GILROY
– Dan Myers said his daughter left the front door to the
family’s house open for less than 30 seconds, but that was all a
brazen burglar needed.
GILROY – Dan Myers said his daughter left the front door to the family’s house open for less than 30 seconds, but that was all a brazen burglar needed.
“Some guy opened the screen, pushed open the door,” he said. “My daughter saw him and said, ‘Excuse me!’ He reached over and grabbed my wife’s purse off the table and ran like hell, going east on Third (Street).”
So his daughter chased the thief from the 7720 Rea St. home to the end of the block, but he got away. That was about 10 p.m. Wednesday.
It was a routine crime by Gilroy standards; the Gilroy Police Department gets more than three theft reports a day, according to 2003 statistics. But as usual with such crimes, it has created a myriad of daunting problems.
In Mrs. Myers’ stolen purse were her keys, and all her identification cards, plus credit cards, health cards, a cellular phone and other items. On Thursday morning, Dan Myers was trying to connect with the state Department of Motor Vehicles by phone to replace his wife’s driver’s license.
“My wife has to prove she is an existing person right now to the DMV because she doesn’t have any ID,” Myers said. “It’s a simple theft, but it’s a lot of hassle on our end.”
The Myers still have justifiable fears for their security. A locksmith has already changed their locks – at considerable expense – but now they are worried about the specter of identity theft.
Plus, if the thief was bold enough to walk in a front door with the residents home, who knows what he might try next?
Myers said his daughter had left the front door of their home slightly ajar.
“It was less than 30 seconds,” Myers said. “We’ve been very vigilant about locking this door, but she was momentarily distracted.”
Myers was asleep at the time, but he said his daughter described the thief as young-looking and more than six feet tall, wearing a sweatshirt.
Police officer Frank Bozzo responded to the house quickly, Myers said.
Myers knows of a few Rea Street houses that have been burglarized before, but he said that “Typically, this street is pretty quiet.
“You gotta be vigilant, unfortunately,” he added. “It’s not small-town USA around here anymore.”
