IMAGINE A LIFE FILLED WITH POSSIBILITIES .
Charbonneau Villager February 2025 A5
Home burglary offers insights for all Charbonneau residents
By LARRY WALKER Charbonneau resident
A family of Charbonneau neighbors were looking forward to returning home from a happy out of town visit over Thanksgiving . What they found when they arrived home was the beginning of a journey of recovery that will likely continue for months to come .
The couple , who live near one of Charbonneau ’ s entrances off Miley Road , first found their vehicle , which had been parked in the garage , missing . Stunned , as they cautiously entered their home , they discovered every homeowner ’ s worst nightmare : cupboards in the kitchen were open , as were drawers and closets in the bedrooms . The couple ’ s treasured sterling silverware was gone as were credit cards , a checkbook , a large screen TV and the wife ’ s original wedding band , among other items . The thieves even stole a box of Tide and a bottle of gin .
The homeowners immediately began to think : “ Why us ?” “ Who could have done this ?” “ Was it a random burglary ?” “ Could it have been the pruner they hired who came to their door the day before they left who they didn ’ t know , but who they hired to clean up the leaves and other debris in their yard ?” “ Maybe the two individuals who came to help him ?” They wouldn ’ t normally hire people to work for them if they didn ’ t know them , or have references , but they really needed to have their yard cleaned up . Maybe that was just a coincidence . Who could know ? All they knew for sure was that their car and valuables were gone , along with their sense of safety and security .
The burglars entered the homeowner ’ s backyard through an unlocked gate , removed a window screen and entered through an unlocked window in the master bedroom at the back of their home . Feeling safe , the owners had no security system . The burglars were likely in and out fast , sometime between 11 p . m . and 5 a . m .
As frustrating and exhausting as the burglary was , the aftermath has proved to be frustrating and exhausting in different ways . Corporate Crime Control ,
Charbonneau Country Club ’ s security service , canvassed the area but was unable to find anything that would lead to who the criminals are . Several days later the residents ’ vehicle was found after a highspeed chase in Linn County . License plates and other identifying information had been removed from it and wallets , purses , keys , drug paraphernalia and other property were found inside . The driver and a passenger fled the scene and were captured . However , due to privacy laws , the homeowners are unable to know their identities or their associations to know anything further about connections to their burglary , if any . This aspect of their experience is one which is most frustrating to the homeowners . They found that what they lost in the burglary was only magnified by dealing with further losses of time and energy dealing with the police , insurance claims , potential coverage cost increases , anger and a loss of innocence .
These Charbonneau neighbors don ’ t want anyone else to experience what they did . To help prevent that they offer everyone the following advice :
� Never hire anyone to work in or outside your home whom you do not know or whose references you are not completely comfortable with .
� Invest in a security system and good exterior lighting with motion sensors .
� Keep windows locked at all times , even when you are home .
� Make sure the gate entries to your property are locked . Thieves are less likely to crawl over fences .
� Be vigilant about not leaving packages on your porch for extended periods .
� Dealing with insurance claims is challenging and time-consuming . Help yourself by having a video on your phone that shows all your belongings , narrated by you with information about value on items where appropriate .
� Update your insurance coverages every couple of years , particularly for highvalue items .
� Their final word of advice : Please don ’ t overreact as Charbonneau is a very safe place to live . However , just because you feel safe doesn ’ t mean you shouldn ’ t do things to stay safe .
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SPRINGRIDGE AT CHARBONNEAU
32200 SW French Prairie Road , Wilsonville SpringRidgeAtCharbonneau . com • 503.694.9738
An SRG Senior Living community