The thief dubbed the “snake burglar” for the way he wriggled on the floor to avoid Riverside businesses’ alarm systems seems to have reappeared.
The burglar, who made off with thousands of dollars worth of cash and merchandise from multiple businesses in December, might have struck again, this time at a gold exchange business earlier this month.
Cesar Meyer of Crown Gold Exchange compared the thief’s motions to Lt. Dan Taylor from “Forrest Gump,” who lost his legs in Vietnam and, when without his wheelchair, would have to crawl.
“This guy slithered in, crawled on the ground, kind of like Lt. Dan-style, hand over hand, didn’t move his legs, and was able to rummage through my entire back room for a full five minutes,” said Cesar Meyer of Crown Gold Exchange.
Meyer said the burglar came in through a neighboring property in the same strip mall and got away with about $50,000 worth of silver.
“My ADT alarm was set, we have motion sensors back there and it didn’t catch him, and that’s been the case with all of the other people that were burglarized by this same burglar,” Meyer said.
Police said they’re investigating to see if this thief is the same person who committed last month’s burglaries, but Meyer laid at least partial blame on his alarm system.
“There’s definitely something faulty, something going on with the ADT motion detectors, because if they’re designed to detect motion, this guy is moving around a lot in all of these businesses, and ADT’s motion detectors are not picking it up,” Meyer said.
In a statement to KTLA, ADT indicated the matter was investigated and that the security system was working properly when the alarm triggered.
“As a goodwill gesture, we offered the customer a credit on his account and our maximum liability claim. He refused both,” the statement read. “As the most trusted brand in security, ADT helps protect thousands of businesses across Southern California and we have not received any claims from other customers experiencing a similar issue.”