Two east Tulsa neighbors were burglarized but they did not know the other one was hit by the same man until about a week after it happened when one neighbor reviewed his home surveillance video.
Steve Stephens lives off 21st and 169. On December 21st, 2012 he was at an “End of the World” party when he came home and didn't notice anything was missing from his porch.
That same night, his neighbor, U.S. Army SFC Chris Jackson, was at dinner with his friends when his roommates called and told him someone broke in through the back door and their computers and electronics, food in the refrigerator and several garbage cans were missing. Jackson filed a police report with his roommates.
A few days later Stephens noticed a three-foot bronze decorative star was missing off the front wall of his house. He had two stars still on it but a third was gone. He looked back through his camera surveillance expecting maybe the wind had knocked it off ,but instead he watched a man steal it off his wall and walk away with it. He also saw the same man in the video park in Jackson’s driveway and stay there for several minutes. Then he came over to Stephens' house and tried to get into his window but failed and went to the front door where the star was and stole the star.
“I was angry and felt violated that somebody would just walk up and take your property; people don’t have morals nowadays,” said Stephens.
“Steve called me a few days afterwards and said I think you should see this video,” said Jackson. “The thieves are just very brazen they seem to just go wherever they want, take whatever they want.”
Jackson has been home from serving in Afghanistan. He has been with the U.S. Army for more than 20 years and was severely injured in Afghanistan. He survived an explosion but then his unit fell into a ditch and he suffered from a traumatic brain injury, among several other injuries. He finally returned home from the hospital a few months ago. He did not appreciate the thief’s welcoming.
“You go overseas, put your life on the line, like our military does now to protect our country and what thanks do we get?” asks Jackson. “When you have, really just punks, going around breaking into people, that puts fear into our neighborhood. “
“I would hope that the person sees his face on FOX23, and his mother looks at him and tells him shame on you,” said Stephens. “I hope that the thieves know that people are not going to take it anymore and we are going to keep our eyes on them.”
Tulsa Police said home surveillance systems do help them in these cases. A surveillance system like Stephens' cost him $1,200. There are similar four-camera systems sold on the Internet at websites like Amazon.com for around $200-$1,000.
If you can recognize the man is in this video, please call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.
