Andrew Kaperonis was headed to a Friday night movie with his family when he got a notification on his phone. Surveillance picked up two men walking around his parents’ Rancho Santa Fe home.
Sheriff’s deputies were mid-investigation when he arrived, but from his app, Kaperonis could see everything.
One of the burglars had a headset on to communicate, and while one wore a hood, you can clearly see the other man’s face.
They walked around the back of the house and broke in through a window in the door.
Kaperonis thinks they were trying to figure out if anyone was home. A couple of lights were on and there were slippers at the door, but fortunately, his parents were out. They had left the house to go to a tree lighting in town. Once the thieves realized the coast was clear, “they were like ‘okay’, so they turned the lights on in the master bedroom, they pulled drawers out, they went over and then they went into the master bathroom and closet where there is a small safe and a chest,” Kaperonis explained.
The thieves pried the chest open, stealing jewelry and irreplaceable family heirlooms. They also loaded the safe onto a BMW SUV – all in only eight minutes. Kaperonis said there was nothing in the safe.
“They were coordinated,” Kaperonis said. “This wasn't a bunch of rookies that were coming around and just 'let's just smash the window and go.'”
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He said he feels violated, but he’s grateful for the technology that may help catch the suspects.
“There’s worse things that could happen,” he added. “And, you know, nobody got hurt.”
Kaperonis said he parents had installed the high tech security system about a month ago.
The family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
