Home Burglaries in Aruba

[Retagger]

My recent experience in Aruba:

On September 22, 2009, my private home was burglarized while I was on the island and out for dinner. Upon our arrival back from dinner, I noticed that the front door was open. Given that I am a Lieutenant of Police with over twenty years of service and my brother, a retired United States Federal Officer - We knew that our home had been burglarized.

The burglars attempted to enter my home through a rear window with a red crowbar but were unsuccessful (I know it was red because the crowbar left a paint transfer on the outside window). They did than attempt to pry open my rear roll down security gate and were again unsuccessful (One of the suspects did leave several finger prints on the gate which were eventually lifted and submitted into evidence). They did than proceed to my wooden front door where entry was made by prying out two locks.

I called the police and waited for their response. Upon talking with the officers, it was learned that three (3) other private homes in my immediate area were also burglarized during the same time frame. The responding officers were extremely nice but they lacked investigative skills. I directed them to the fingerprints found on the roll down gate but they were not equipped to lift the prints. We were told we would have to wait until the following afternoon and for us not to touch anything until the following day.

After completing an inventory of all missing items and the damage caused by the burglary, the total value was in excess of $10,000 US dollars.

The following day, detectives did respond and did lift several suitable fingerprints within our home.

From this point forward, I have not received much cooperation from the police, specifically, the assigned Detective (name removed), who was assigned my case. If it was not for my persistence, I would not have found out the lead Detectives name as the officers or their superiors could not tell me the detective’s name.

After returning home to the United States, I emailed the lead Detective my serial numbers for all of my stolen electronics so that they could be entered into their national stolen item database. (It took her over one month to complete this task). I did also send her my cell phone bill, which clearly indicates that the phone was used after it was stolen from my home. The suspect did make several local phone calls in Aruba, which is a great investigative tool. As of this date, she is not acting on this lead.

I later found out through several friends in Aruba that three (3) suspects had been arrested for burglary in my immediate area. It took several emails to the lead Det. to confirm this as correct. She states that the suspects were questioned regarding my burglary but since they did not admit burglarizing my house, they could not be charged.

When I was on the island, I visited several police stations and I found out the following information, which is quite interesting and disturbing:

• All four of the burglaries that occurred in my immediate area were all tourists that own homes in Aruba.
• All four victims of the burglaries rented cars (The rental cars in Aruba all have stickers and advertisements stating the vehicles to be rentals. The license plate also indicates it is a rental by the letter "V".) The advertising on rental cars in the United States is now illegal because a tourist was targeted and killed in Florida several years ago. There is no valid reason for this advertising to continue in Aruba and have tourists targeted for crime.
• All four families left their homes around 7pm for dinner and returned back around 10pm to find their homes burglarized.

I found out the above information on my own. If I can find out this information within a few hours, there is no reason the police could not do the same.

Almost four (4) weeks ago, I did also write to the following:
1. U.S. Consulate’s Office and have not heard anything or received any type of reply.
2. Diario newspaper in Aruba and did receive a response from Nilton Larie who stated that they were very interested in my story but I have not received any further correspondence.
3. The Aruba Tourism Authority and I received a response back from Maritza Lacle who was also very interested in my story but I have not received any further correspondence.

I have since installed a security system with outdoor infrared beams, outdoor motion sensors, electronic roll down gate over the front door, internet cameras, etc. It is a shame that I had to install these security measures, but I should have known better as crime can happen anywhere in the world. I now feel extremely safe and hopefully our next visit is calm and uneventful.

I will post updates when and if, any new leads become available.

I was very hesitant to post my experience on this forum, but I think it is important for others to read my story and possibly learn from my experience.

Regards,

[Andrea J.]

dave thanks for your posting.
i encourage you to print out this thread and hand deliver it next time you are in aruba to the powers that be at the police headquarters. Also too, a letter to the police chief/superintendant stating your concerns.

it is discouraging that you have yet to hear from any of those folks that you mentioned. i certainly cannot imagine why there was no follow up.

hello to the powers that be..... whoever is listening out there............many of us chose aruba because it is safe........let's help keep it that way.

i hope that you keep us posted and i appreciate your post.

now u a fortress huh?

[qlaval]

Thanks for your post David

[islandj]

David, sorry to hear about that. Could you tell me the area this happen in ie. Noord, Palm beach, Wayaca, etc? I live on the island now and just want to know if I need to keep a better lookout around my area. Thanks.

[mjn109]

That is such an awful experience. And with all the knowledge that you have, David, it was still a fight to get information. So horrible. My aunt and uncle have a beautiful home on the island and are heading there either today or tomorrow. I do hope that they do not encounter something similar-I would be devastated for them. I'd be darned to remember there on the island there house is though.

I do know that crime can happen anywhere and we all should be aware of our surroundings no matter what. Sad, but true in todays world.

I sincerely hope that you get the justice you deserve and the police come forth with information. It seems the things that we enjoy about Aruba, the slower pace, somewhat lackadaisical attidute is good for somethings, but when it comes to others such as police matters, we wish it could be like America and happen just a little bit faster. Best of luck, keep us posted on the progress!

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by islandj

Could you tell me the area this happen in ie. Noord, Palm beach, Wayaca, etc?

According to his site:

"Casa de Aruba is located in the Palm Beach area of the island and is within minutes to the beach, the "High rise" hotels and the world famous Tierra del Sol golf course."

[lizzardo]

Not that this provides you with any solace but starting in the Sept timeframe they have arrested a lot of people involved with 'organized' burglaries in part due to a commission they had started some time ago.

They have also arrested a 'ring' that were importing stolen boats and
marine stuff coming in from Miami.

I hope that the new administration (which had this as a priority in their
election speeches and seem to be doing something about it now) keeps it up. They are in the process of looking at the police dept issues
right now.

I think it's actually a 'good thing' that they actually arrested the people
who they think did it. That is progress for here.

[Retagger]

My home is located directly off of Palm Beach Road in the Palm Beach area.

It is just extremely frustrating since there is such a lack of communication of the part of the police in Aruba. I get the "Run Around" every time that I call or send an email for an update of the investigation. I almost feel is that they do not want to inquire about the status and I know that they don't like it when I question their investigative skills (That is another story).

I have "CC" all top officials of the police force and have written many directly - still, no response.

I hope that things will change within the police department with the newly elected government.

The one good thing that came out of this experience is that I have become much closer to our neighbors and we communicate now on a regular basis.

Regards,

[Shnyda]

Was there a security system on the residence? We get a little nervous leaving high value items around the house. Gold Coast does have security - but I am not sure how good they really are.

[Retagger]

At the time of my burglary, I did not have a security system.

At this time, I have a system with many different layers of security. I have perimeter sensors, outdoor infrared beams, electronic security gates, window sensors, indoor motion sensors, internet security cameras, etc.