Burglar Caught in the Act with Axis Home Video Surveillance

  • By Christina Miralla
  • Oct 03, 2011
Video surveillance proved to benefit one Texas resident when his home security system helped police identify a burglar.

Homeowner Thomas Marik received a startling phone call from his wife one August afternoon to find out that the couple’s home was burglarized. Marik and his wife were out for the day, so no one was home at the time of the break-in. The couple never experienced a burglary before in their Austin, Texas, neighborhood, but they were prepared.

Marik, a member of the security industry, won an Axis home security camera at an ASIS convention in San Diego, Calif., back in 2007.

“I rushed home as fast as I could,” Marik told Austin-based ABC-affiliate KVUE. “I ran immediately to the computer, and found that I had gotten some good usable video.”

The surveillance camera goes through Marik’s home router and connects to a PC that runs the Axis recording software. Marik is able to view the surveillance footage through his home PC and smartphone. The burglar(s) stole various electronic devices including a digital camera, cell phone, flat-screen TV and laptop computer, but didn’t touch Marik’s PC, according to police reports.

From a few seconds of footage snapped by the camera (click video footage below), a suspect was identified as Ray Adam Luna, 18. Investigators were able to identify Luna based on a tattoo visible through the video.

Nearly one week after the burglary, a warrant was issued and an arrest was made.

Marik never intended to catch a thief by installing the surveillance system. He was just interested in watching the shenanigans his cat got into on the front porch throughout the day on his smartphone.

“I mostly deployed the video camera as a curiosity,” Marik said.

Most home burglaries don’t include incriminating evidence on video. Marik unknowingly positioned the camera in a perfect spot to a catch a thief. The Austin Police Department wouldn’t have been able to clearly identify a suspect without Marik’s surveillance footage.

“His video made the case. If it wasn’t for this, we wouldn’t have a suspect,” said Sgt. David Socha of the Austin Police Department to Austin-based ABC-affiliate KVUE.

Despite that fact that an arrest was made, Marik knows the odds of officers retrieving his family's stolen belongings are slim.

“I’m not counting on getting any of my stuff back, but I’m pleased that there was somebody arrested,” said Marik.

Since Marik’s home burglary, Austin PD have implemented community patrols in his neighborhood. The area had its share of home burglaries prior to the recorded break-in, according to Marik, but now, officers are actively patrolling the area in an effort to protect the community.

About the Author

Christina Miralla is the associate content editor at 1105 Media, Inc.

Featured

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

  • Survey: 48 Percent of Worshippers Feel Less Safe Attending In-Person Services

    Almost half (48%) of those who attend religious services say they feel less safe attending in-person due to rising acts of violence at places of worship. In fact, 39% report these safety concerns have led them to change how often they attend in-person services, according to new research from Verkada conducted online by The Harris Poll among 1,123 U.S. adults who attend a religious service or event at least once a month. Read Now

  • AI Used as Part of Sophisticated Espionage Campaign

    A cybersecurity inflection point has been reached in which AI models has become genuinely useful in cybersecurity operation. But to no surprise, they can used for both good works and ill will. Systemic evaluations show cyber capabilities double in six months, and they have been tracking real-world cyberattacks showing how malicious actors were using AI capabilities. These capabilities were predicted and are expected to evolve, but what stood out for researchers was how quickly they have done so, at scale. Read Now

  • Why the Future of Video Security Is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reasons. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.