In the News
November 16, 2006
'Halloween burglar' winds up in handcuffs
SEATTLE – November 16, 2006 – Thefts are common in downtown Seattle office buildings, but when one thief decided to hit a business on Halloween, the trick was on him.
Surveillance video
The burglar was caught red-handed by the company's various security cameras.
The suspect apparently didn't think twice when he decided to hit the downtown business. He probably thought he was pretty smart when he managed to get onto a secured elevator and go to the third floor.
What he didn't do was look up to see the security cameras that were watching his every move.
It's likely the suspected thief just wandered into the non-descript building on Seattle's First Avenue, but as soon as he stepped off the elevator, he was on camera.
"There were probably 600 pictures taken of him in the 6 minutes he was here,” said Bob Shuman, Vigilos CEO.
The 23-year-old didn't realize he'd walked into Vigilos, a security company that writes software for the U.S. Navy and the FBI.
They have to guard their facility like anybody else does and they need intelligence systems to do that with.
But it didn't take an FBI agent to figure out what this guy was probably up to.
Video
Linda Byron has the details
"While the workers were all gathered around the conference table for their morning meeting, the thief was just a few feet away rifling through offices and trying to lay low - suspect crawling on the floor to avoid detection.
The laptop computers were all locked down, so he made off with one of the employees’ backpacks.
"It was really disturbing. It had my wallet, keys, home address,” said Kara Hamilton.
Vigilos quickly printed up the pictures for police, but in the end it wasn’t just high-tech wizardry that led to an arrest. The day after the theft, Shuman was on his way to a meeting and found the suspected burglar standing beside him on a street corner.
“Still looking for the next building to go into,” said Shuman.
So he called 911 and managed to direct police to the location where they arrested the suspect for investigation of burglary.
He was identified as 23-year-old Nelson Cruz, who plead guilty to a theft charge just three months ago.
Thefts in downtown office buildings are apparently quite common. The perpetrators even have a nickname: office crawlers!
Police say the lesson here is to lock up all valuables at work.
About Vigilos, Inc.
Vigilos, Inc. (www.) is a provider of patented,
remote security guard technology serving enterprise,
small and medium business (SMB), and public entities.
Originally benchmarked with customers such as the FBI
and U.S. Navy and deployed by industry leading organizations
in the financial services, technology and property
management sectors, Vigilos’ patented technology
powers its BrightSiteTM turnkey service. BrightSite
is the only remote security guard technology to reduce
guard labor expenses by up to 30 percent, improve guard
productivity and consolidate disparate security activity.
Vigilos is a provider of Enterprise Security Management
(ESM) software that enables enterprise security executives
to design and implement comprehensive solutions that
support the unique needs
of their organizations. With Vigilos ESM, organizations
can leverage existing infrastructure, incorporate best-of-breed
component technologies, automate and optimize key security-related
business processes. Vigilos is located at 2030 First
Avenue, Suite 300, Seattle, Wash.
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