Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January, 2015

10 steps to prevent a break-in

ASHEVILLE – Chris Schruckmayr and his family became a statistic last year, among victims of a surge of house break-ins in Asheville and Buncombe County. But after the break-in at his home in Royal Pines just south of Asheville, Schruckmayr found a way to turn that negative, frightening experience into something positive. He and other Royal Pines neighbors who also were victims of a rash of break-ins the spring of 2013 got busy re-energizing a community watch group that had become mostly inactive. With help from law enforcement officers, they learned how to better protect their homes and to better look out for each other. Today, the group is a force to be reckoned with for would-be crooks. “Everybody is on the lookout,” Schruckmayr said. “If they see something that doesn’t look right, they call the sheriff’s department. I think we’re all attuned to check what is regular and check what is suspicious. I think we’re all in that mindset now.” Buncombe sheriff’s officers and Asheville