THEY COULD HAVE BEEN SHOT.

The Victim: Amy Acers

The Crime: Burglary of a shed

Date: Tuesday, Dec. 3

Time: Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Location: 300 block of Rosemont

As we begin our sixth year of True Crime reporting for the Advocate, we’re still amazed by the risks that criminal types will take — often for only a few dollars’ worth of stolen property. A case in point is the recent shed burglary at Amy Acers’ Winnetka Heights home. Acers’ shed sits in the rear of her backyard, which is enclosed by a tall fence that is locked from the inside. The only way in is over the fence — and that’s how someone got in recently. A criminal scaled the fence and cut the simple lock off the storage shed.

Next, he rolled out an old lawnmower and somehow lifted the lawnmower up and over the fence — probably with the help of an accomplice on the other side. The burglar was literally locked inside the fence for several minutes before scaling back up and out — putting himself at risk of being shot if a homeowner had seen him.

In the process, the crooks broke Acers’ decorative grapevine arbor, which was located in the backyard. Acers says her husband noticed the open shed and missing mower the next morning as he let out the family dogs.

“It’s an old lawnmower. They’re probably only going to get 10 bucks for it,” she says.

Things got even stranger later that morning, when someone drove a car by, stopped briefly in the alley and apparently threw something out. Police later found bolt cutters and a flashlight in the area — possibly equipment for another break-in. Another neighbor in the area also had a shed broken into that night.

Sgt. Kay Hughbanks with the Dallas Police Southwest Patrol Division says that shed break-ins are fairly common and that it is difficult to completely secure a shed with more than a padlock of some sort. She says stashing equipment as in this case is also common.

LH, PH, OC

“One thing that can be added to deter suspects would be a motion-sensor light in the backyard, where it will be triggered if someone or something gets close to the shed door. Thieves often stash things — tools and/or stolen property — to come back for later and hide these items between houses and in bushes.”