SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – “Until that locksmith came today and changed out all of our locks we were scared and frightened because they were armed, and what if they came back?”
Cathy and Ben Couillard are looking back on terrifying moments this morning that was caught on camera.
While they were sleeping, they say two armed thieves broke into their Bernal Heights home with the help of a third suspect and took off with several of their belongings.
The home invasion happened near Powhattan and Peralta Avenues in San Francisco.
In the surveillance video, the thieves can be seen canvassing the neighborhood, however, the Couillard’s were later targeted because of the lock boxes.
They are easy to smash open and that’s exactly what happened here. Now, the family is warning others to get rid of these things after their close encounter.
“When she didn’t stop barking then we went out of our bedroom door and one of the things that were immediately suspicious for us was that our bedroom door was open and we always keep it closed so when I saw it open, I walk out and our front door was just completely open,” Cathy said.
Cathy and Ben describe the frightening moments when they realized two armed suspects were in their home as they slept. The home surveillance video revealed how it all happened.
First, three thieves are seen canvassing the neighborhood with tools in hand, until they later chose the Couillard’s home.
At first they couldn’t get in but the thieves quickly saw an opportunity.
“You can see visibly in the footage that they turn around and they notice the lockbox and point to it, kind of jump up and get excited that there’s a lockbox,” Ben said.
The two men smashed the lock box open, took the key inside and made their way into the home.
That’s when the Couillard’s dog, Hapa, started barking and scared them off.
Still the thieves made off with Ben’s mountain bike, lap top and their house key.
“As soon as the police left, it felt pretty uncomfortable knowing there are armed men out on the streets with the key to our house,” Ben said.
Despite the stolen belongings, the couple say they’re just thankful to be alive.
“One thing that we keep going back to like had them come in and our dog wasn’t there they probably would just point the gun at us, ask us to not move and probably take everything from the house,” Cathy said.
The Couillard’s already had their locks changed and are pushing out a warning to all of their neighbors and our viewers that if you have these, get rid of them and use something more secure!
If you have any information about those suspects, please contact police.