Summer is cruising on by and unfortunately for the owners of a Volkswagen dealership in Ocala, Florida, so did five cars that were stolen out of their lot early Saturday morning. Our July Surveillance Video of the Month shows six thieves breaking into the dealership by pulling out the glass on the service entrance door. Unfortunately, the alarm did not sound, allowing them to spend 20 leisurely minutes finding the keys to the vehicles that they stole. The dealership reported the loss to be valued at more than $100,000.

Though we do not work with Volkswagen of Ocala, and cannot be sure from surveillance video alone, it is likely that the dealership’s alarm was designed to sound only if the door had been opened while locked. Given the amount of glass used for both the doors and outer walls of the building, having a glass-break sensor installed would have been critical in mitigating the damage.

This is an unfortunate example of the benefits of system integration and the importance of ensuring that the most appropriate security system components for the specific needs of a business have been identified. In this case, had there been a glass-break sensor, the alarm would have sounded and either scared the thieves off, prevented them from taking as many vehicles as they did, or if monitored, notified the police immediately. With a security system in place, there is no doubt that the owners were disappointed that the theft was not discovered until the first employee arrived for work, hours later.

View the news coverage and surveillance video footage here.

 

 

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