Here's Another Crime Story.

[arlean]

Well it happened. I left last Tuesday morning early for Montevideo and my apartment was burglarized that same afternoon while the inhabitants of the other two apartments on my floor were away. The door was kicked in. Lost a professional type Nikon digital SLR camera, an old nonfunctioning laptop and money. That's about all that was in my apartment of value except my desktop computer, which they left. It's old but I'm glad they didn't take it.

You have to have a key to enter the building itself as well as to leave, so whoever did it had a key. The police said two other apartments in a building a block away were burglarized as well.

What I realized out of all this (probably the men here will not be surprised but it sure was an education for me) was the weakness of the door with which I have felt secure for three whole years. Not only are the deadbolts only in wood (the wood is about 3/4 inch thick as near as I can tell) but one of the locks was destroyed and they had to take it out to be replaced and inside the door I find it is only two non-impressive sheets of wood with spacers between. To my thinking, that's insane in a city where security is a problem. If they don't fix it in a way that I think is secure, I'll be looking for a place to move.

But what an education. It seems to me that in life just about every crisis is a huge learning opportunity. This surely has been one for me! I'll look at security a lot differently from now on.

 

[EricLovesBA]

What a bummer. Thanks for reminding us all to stay vigilant. Happy to see you are apparently taking it in good stride.

Strange that they had a key, and likely knew the whole floor was empty, as kicking in even a weak door is a fairly noisy business. You must be suspecting the portero or close neighbor, no?

 

[shoush]

oh I'm sorry that this happened what area was this?

 

[mariposa]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]oh I'm sorry that this happened what area was this? [/background]

Sounds like Recoleta to me, it happens there all the time (from what i read in the papers...).

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

First, no one got hurt. That's the most important thing.

Second, do you have insurance for your apartment contents?

Third, these are almost always an inside job.

 

[arlean]

I'm in Palermo, not far from Alto Palermo shopping mall. No, no insurance. Plus I really felt secure here. About the portero, everyone suspects him for the reasons you say. I do strongly suspect an inside job. It almost appears someone not only has access to the building, but knew when people were out. My next door neighbor told me she was in and out all afternoon so it wasn't like she was gone all the time. It just happened to happen while she happened to be out? It's a bit of a stretch.

But I don't know. I LOVE my portero. My friend who has lived here 14 years says whether you love the portero or not is irrelevant.

I pay my rent 6 months at a time and fortunately I had just paid it, plus my utilities, or their take would have been considerably more. Thanks for all your sympathy. It actually makes me feel better.

 

[Yogur griego]

Porteros, the Root of all Evil

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

DO NOT TRUST ANYONE! NO EXCEPTIONS! My Argentina friends will back me up on that.

 

[arlean]

One more comment to EriclovesBA. Thanks for telling me that even kicking in a weak door is a noisy business. I keep trying to figure this out and I think that fact is significant--if it would be that noisy. I'm not as familiar with some of this as some (perhaps all) of the men here. But if that is the case, it is more evidence that whoever did it knew who was in the building and who was out. I can hear voices in hallways above and below me (but not in other apartments). Of course a lot of people in this building are at work in the afternoon, but for someone completely unaware of the situation in the building about who was home, it would seem a risky business. Oh dear. I am thinking more the portero! .

 

[Canick]

glad you ok...and that you weren't home. you never know these days if they wait for you to be there, or prefer when you are not.

today at my office building we had to all hand in our front door keys as they changed the locks. last night one of the tenants that shares my office building was robbed at gunpoint by four "well dressed" men at his home in palermo. they tied him up and took everything over a 3 hour period. luckily they did not physically harm him.
they specifically also took all of his keys (including car) and one of his business cards. car was still there when police arrived.
long story to say the police suggested we change our office front door locks on the off chance they will try the stolen keys on the address of the business card. they are even claiming to be on a "stakeout" on the car garage and our office.

it's sad that I feel more uncomfortable that cops will have access to the new office keys, than that the robbers take existing stolen keys, proceed to match it to a business card and break in a second night in a row....