A burglary victim speaks: 'Probably the biggest feeling I have is a feeling of violation'

By EMILIE RAGUSO
eraguso@modbee.com

last updated: April 06, 2008 02:59:49 AM

Within an hour last year, a burglar broke into Toni Boster's home, trashed her belongings, stole her jewelry collection and destroyed her sense of security.

It was Dec. 13, her husband's birthday. Boster, a 40-year-old Turlock homemaker, ran out for an hour with her 3-year-old daughter. About 1:30 p.m., she pulled into the garage and sent her daughter inside.

"Go in, go make a birthday card for Daddy."

"Mommy, the door's locked."

The family only locks that door at night, so Boster tried to push it open, thinking her daughter was wrong. It wouldn't budge. They came around through the front door, which was unlocked.

Inside, Boster found a mess. Drawers pulled open, papers strewn on the floor. Upstairs in her bedroom, clothes were everywhere and her bedding was in disarray. She walked to the closet where she kept her jewelry.

"The closet was completely trashed. All the jewelry was gone," Boster said.

She hadn't put on her wedding ring that morning because she'd planned to spend the day at home. It was gone, along with a sapphire ring, a pair of gold earrings she'd received for her 16th birthday and the rest of the $6,000 collection of jewelry she'd built over 25 years.

"Probably the biggest feeling I have is a feeling of violation. A stranger was in my house, rummaging through my stuff," she said. "It still creeps me out. He touched my underwear. He touched my pillow."

Boster later realized the burglar had come in through a bathroom window she'd left cracked about half an inch. The screen had been pried off and there was a telltale clump of mud on the toilet where the burglar climbed in, feet first.

A community service officer from the Turlock Police Department who came to take fingerprints was sympathetic, Boster said. But in all likelihood, the officer said, if police caught the culprit, he'd probably serve 45 days in jail and then be out again.

"It's a safe bet that (the burglar) was a drug addict, and looking for a quick fix," Boster said. "And his need for drugs was greater than the sentimental value of my wedding ring. I have a pretty new one now, but it's just, every time I look at it, it's just not the one my husband put on my finger. And that, that's sad."

Property crimes rampant

Burglaries and thefts are the most frequently occurring crimes, law enforcement agents say. Though property crimes might not bring with them the same degree of trauma as violent crimes, more people are victims of burglars and thieves than murderers and rapists.

"It's just not a good feeling to know your security has been compromised," said Gary Martinez, a property crimes detective with the Modesto Police Department. "You have to deal with insurance, deal with repairs and figure out what you can do to make yourself safer."

Property crimes are a huge problem throughout the county. As of 2006, Stanislaus County had the second-highest property crime rate in the state, right after San Joaquin County, according to RAND, a national research institution that provides historical criminal statistics based on Department of Justice data. Property crimes include burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft. The object of these offenses is to take money or prop-erty; neither force nor threat of force is involved.

Robbery, on the other hand, is defined as stealing by force or threat of force.

The Modesto and Turlock police departments and the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department reported large jumps in the number of home burglaries from 2006 to 2007.

In Turlock, there were 37 percent more home burglaries in 2007; in Modesto, about 26 percent more. And the Sheriff's Department showed a 22 percent increase in unincorporated areas.

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