SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A family in Black Mountain Ranch may be the latest victim of professional gangs targeting homes in wealthy neighborhoods across San Diego County.
Ring video captured an all too familiar scene. Intruders wearing hats, masks, and carrying backpacks walk right past security cameras.
They appear unphased by the motion detectors. According to police, they often enter through the back. They're in and out in minutes.
Ellen, her husband, and their 3 young children were at a neighborhood school function in the early evening of Feb 2. They were gone only an hour. They did everything they could to secure their home.
"We got flood lights that are motion sensors. We got ring cameras so we have footage of what happened. We have glass break sensors. We left lights on. We have a dog," said Ellen who didn't want to use her full name.
The entrance to their neighborhood is gated with a guard on duty, but horse trails are running along the back of their home.
They think that's how the thieves got in. The alarm that was supposed to sound when the glass is broken did not go off.
"My husband said did you open all the drawers upstairs? and I said what are you talking about I walked in and saw the glass completely broken and went into panic mode," said Ellen.
The intruders had ransacked the entire upstairs.
Every drawer was open the whole closet was emptied out, bathroom drawers, they went all around the house," said Ellen.
Police told the family this may be the work of South American gangs believed to be responsible for at least sixty break-ins in La Jolla alone last year. The family was aware of the crime spree but hadn't heard anything recently.
”I kind of let my guard down a little bit, every time there was motion in front of the house, the trail, the backyard, I would get an alert on my watch. Every time an Amazon delivery happened and the last few months I just turned the alerts off," said Ellen.
She says the worst part is the impact on her young children.
"My husband and I haven’t slept in the same bed. We’ve been sleeping with the kids cause they wake up in the middle of the night crying. "
She said there were two similar break-ins in her neighborhood last week.
San Diego Police did not respond to 10News inquiries Monday about the break-ins.
