Burglars recently entered my home while I was away overnight. When I
returned, I saw two possible ways to enter and exit. In the kitchen, the
sliding door to the patio was open enough for someone to easily pass
through. In the fireplace room, a large casement window at the left end
of a bay window was open, and the casement operator was bent, as shown
he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9027891...in/photostream

Assuming that I forgot to lock the kitchen door before leaving home,
someone could have easily entered and exited that way, without bothering
to touch the casement window.

Assuming that the kitchen door was locked, I don't see any way he could
have entered through the casement window. There is a screen on the
inside held in place by four plastic clips. (One is visible in the above
link.) The screen was laying on the floor, undamaged, and none of the
clips was damaged. From the outside, there was no damage to the frames
of the kitchen door or the casement window, as there would be if someone
used a pry bar.

It takes a great deal of force to bend the casement operator; I couldn't
straighten it using a bench vise. It is impossible to bend it upwards as
shown in the link with the window closed because the bottom of the
window frame would have blocked it.

The crank handle was lying nearby on the floor of the bay window. It's
only held in place by friction; no need to loosen a screw.

Aside from the loss of the stuff stolen, my only expense was $45 for a
replacement casement operator (brand: Truth). The casement hinges and
locking bar were okay. The window frame wasn't bent out of shape.

Questions:
1. Can anyone figure a way of getting in, either through the kitchen
door or the casement window, without leaving signs outside?
2. If they entered via the kitchen, why fiddle with the casement window?
3. If they entered via the casement window, why take the time to bend
the operator?

To see how my home looked, go to youtube and enter "house burglary
07726" to see the 5:32 video. The place looks messy, but nothing except
the casement operator was damaged. There was no gratuitous vandalism.

R1