A 32-year-old man was arrested by the police last Sunday evening, at Virginia Beach, since he tried breaking and entering a house, in a so to speak, “un-professional” way. The burglar had several minor offenses posted against him. However, according to the Sergeant in charge of the case, he made a “major mistake”, since he tried to deceit a Virginia Beach, VA locksmith. Tim, who is a proud locksmith with more than 7 years in the business, helped the police to capture the burglar.
Tim spent last Sunday morning doing kayak with dolphins, at First Landing State Park. “It was really cool. I’ve never done it before. A friend of mine told me I should really try it. I had postponed it for a while, until I finally decided to give it a try. So, I did. Dolphins are awesome. They are such happy animals, man. They make you feel happy too”. After that fantastic activity, he went towards the office of Good Lock, the company where he has been a renowned employee for the last 7 years.
“I was on call on Sunday for the night shift. So, I arrived at the office at around 5. And about 15 minutes later, I got a call”, he said. According to the locksmith Services expert, the call sounded like a regular one. Then he headed in the van towards the address, located in the upper scale neighborhood of Cape Henry Shores.
When Tim arrived, he saw a white man sitting in his car, a grey Mazda, in front of the address. The man in the car introduced himself as “James”. From the very beginning, Tim later specified to the police, he acted strangely. When we asked the Virginia Beach, VA locksmith what exactly he meant by this, he answered the following: “Well, first, it looked like he was avoiding looking me in the eye; but I thought ‘What the heck? Who am I to judge?’ But when I asked him for his driver’s license – which is part of my job – he really got nervous. So, I kind of saw that something wasn’t going well at that point”.
Tim added that the man seemed to really have trouble finding his license. He then mentioned that the so called “James” said that he might have left it inside the house. “Well, I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to open the lock for you, unless you provide a valid ID”, Tim specified. The man in the car started to act quite pushy in having his way. But the locksmith remained stern. And later left the neighborhood, driving one of the company’s vans.
It could have ended there. If the situation would have been a normal one, any locksmith would have gone continuing with the shift. However, Tim specified that he has a strong intuition. He had a hunch that something was not going well with that particular “client”.
So, the locksmith came back to the house after a couple of minutes. And he later saw one of the front windows of the house broken. He immediately reported this to the police. According to Sergeant Letterman, the officer in charge of the case, “Tim did a great job”. “Not only as a locksmith, but also as a member of our community; he did the right thing when he called us”, stated the officer.
“It felt simply wrong to leave the house like that. The guy’s attitude did not feel normal at all. In most cases, people who hire a locksmith already know that they will have to show any sort of ID. It is just common sense. And they act relaxed. Because, of course, it’s their houses, so there’s nothing to worry about. But in this case, it just didn’t seem that way. So, that’s why I called the cops. I guess everyone with a bad feeling would have done the same thing”, mentioned Tim.
The technician later mentioned that he remained in the van, waiting for the police to arrive. When the Virginia Beach officers arrived, they entered the house through the backyard. They almost immediately arrested “James”. The suspect got caught piling up electronic devices from the Cape Henry Shores’ address. Tim actually saw the man being cuffed and taken away from the scene. Only then he left to continue with his shift.
We later had the chance to speak to Elizabeth, one of the homeowners. She said: “I’m glad that the police and the locksmith had the courage to get the thief. I was on a family trip with my kids up North. My husband, on the other hand, is working outside of the country. So, the house was by itself. When the police called me, I was out of town. Thank God we didn’t lose anything at all”.
Was this an odd day or do burglars regularly try to deceit locksmiths? we couldn’t resist to ask Tim. “Actually, this is the first time that this has happened to me. I believe that the guy didn’t know too much about breaking and entering”, he then mentioned jokingly. “When I feel a hunch, I just go with it, you know what I’m saying?”, he then added.
Was he scared when this took place? We also asked the locksmith. “Not really”, he replied, “and I wouldn’t have exposed myself to something really dangerous. I just acted on the spot, given the situation”.
“I’m glad that Tim did the right thing and that he had the courage to remain in the area before we arrived. Some people just get scared under these situations; but he remained calm, and he didn’t confront the suspect. He did everything right”, mentioned Sergeant Letterman.
We also had the chance to talk to Jake, the manager at Good Lock, and he mentioned that he was truly glad that one of his employees did a great thing for the community. “That is actually one of the reasons Tim is one of our best employees. He has been working with us for the last 7 years. And he is one of our best employees. He is always alert and diligent. He is a hard-working man, and always goes the extra-mile”.
“James”, the suspect, was later taken to the county jail. We bet that he regretted calling a Virginia Beach, VA locksmith in the first place. But Elizabeth and her family, the police and the rest of the Virginia Beach community are awfully glad that he did.