When a lock company owner gets picked, trouble?s brewing.
Chris Serbeck, the owner of Crest Lock Co. Inc. in Baltimore County, said teens recently broke into his Overlea-area garage two consecutive nights. The first night they got caught breaking a window, but apparently returned the next and stole two dirt bikes, Serbeck said.
“Everything was chained up and I never would have dreamed they would come back the next night,” Serbeck said. “I got a little complacent.”
Baltimore County police said Serbeck is one victim of a “seasonal” increase in shed and garage thefts. Sheds and garages are often unlocked and unattended during warm weather, police spokesman Bill Toohey said.
Toohey said at least nine shed burglaries have occurred in the Wilkens corridor.
In Overlea, residents regularly complain, said District 6 Councilman Joe Bartenfelder, who asked Police Chief Terrence Sheridan to crack down on garage burglaries at a budget hearing last week.
“These weren?t left open, they were broken into,” Bartenfelder said. “There?s nervousness about this out there.”
Poilce officials suggest residents install lights and motion detectors, and engrave bikes with driver?s license numbers ? they said bike owners can borrow engraving tools from local precincts. Toohey said residents can also frustrate burglars by chaining dirt bikes and other vehicles together.
“Chain your lawn mower to your dirt bike to your weed wacker,” Toohey said. “They can deter, not necessarily prevent, but certainly pose a headache.”
Serbeck ? whose company grew from a traditional locksmith to specializing in complex electronic security ? said thieves stole four all-terrain vehicles from his neighbor recently. After losing his own, Serbeck vowed not to let it happen again.
“That place is like Fort Knox now,” he said. “I?ve got cameras in the garage and cameras in the perimeter.”
