A burglar is caught red-handed wandering through a south Tulsa office complex, thanks to a business owner who was fed up with crime.
It happened early Tuesday morning at the Southpark Office Complex at 55th and Peoria. The burglar was seen on videotape wandering down the hall with a crowbar, flashlight and a screwdriver. Police later found him in the ceiling.
Business owner Bill Brunton couldn’t believe his eyes when the surveillance system he had just purchased captured James Michael Estrada burglarizing his building.
“Last night I was home watching TV and monitoring the video, and all of a sudden I spotted someone wandering through the hallways,” says Brunton.
He jumped into his car and headed towards the office, making a call to 911 on the way. This isn’t the first time Brunton’s building has been broken into.
Just a few weeks ago, someone came down through the ceiling and stole a few laptops and other items. So Bill decided to catch the burglar in the act and that’s exactly what he did.
"In our case, we caught him red-handed. The infrared light source allowed us to see him even in the dark when he turned the lights out. He was walking up and down the hallway with a flashlight which was kind of eerie looking,” says Brunton.
Tulsa Police recommend doing these things to protect your home or business:
- You can install video surveillance on the property
- add additional lighting inside and outside
- If you have money or valuables, you can put them inside a lock box or a safe
"Go ahead and remove that whole lock box from the business, that way if somebody does make entry that's not something they can just walk away with,” says Tulsa Police officer, Jillian Roberson.
Bill says he purchased his entire surveillance system for less than $500.
Police say the video will help their case tremendously when they present the evidence to the court. Right now, they are investigating to see if Estrada was involved in other burglaries in the area.
