A wealthy Arizona neighborhood has been the target of an 11-year string of burglaries by thieves who take advantage of the lack of motion sensors in their victims’ bedrooms. Among the burglary victims has been former Vice President Dan Quayle and former Arizona Diamondbacks baseball players Steve Finley and Mark Grace.
According to the Associated Press, either a thief or band of thieves have targeted pricey homes in Paradise Valley, Ariz. – a suburb of Phoenix – by using a low-tech solution against alarm systems: a rock. Only the master bedrooms or bathrooms are targeted and broken into using a rock through a window. The thieves never leave the master suite of a home, where motion detectors are generally not installed.
Police say in the past 11 years, thieves have broken into 323 homes in the area and taken $12 million worth of goods, including a 10.5-carat diamond ring in one heist. The most recent burglary took place on Nov. 20. Thus far, no suspects have been caught though a multiagency task force has been formed solely to capture the suspect or suspects and a $26,000 reward has been posted.
Other prominent residents of Paradise Valley who have yet to be victimized include baseball pitcher Randy Johnson, rocker Alice Cooper, former NBA star Charles Barkley, retired news anchor Hugh Downs and convicted Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy.
Quayle was home when the burglar hit his home and he saw the thief when he turned on a light. The burglar escaped empty-handed. “Haven’t they found that guy yet?” Quayle said jokingly of the 1999 break-in, according to AP.
