Thief only steals purses after ransacking East Dallas home

Surveillance cameras, a security system and a locked-tight home were still not enough to keep burglars out.

The thief, or thieves, ransacked a house in the Lochwood neighborhood in East Dallas but only took designer handbags.

The owner of the house was getting notifications on her phone from her security company that there was a break-in. While police were on the way, she raced home. But within minutes, the inside of the house was torn apart for just a couple of purses.

At Kelly Dlabaj’s house in East Dallas, unwanted visitors are warned there's an alarm system and surveillance cameras.

“I've done everything right from having the signage to the cameras, padlocks on the gates,” she said. “To think that somebody could even get back there or want to, I mean, they were locked in essentially.”

All the safeguards still didn't deter a burglar who got around the padlocked gates likely by hopping a back fence. They kicked their way through a back door.

On Wednesday right around lunchtime, Dlabaj received a notice from her alarm company there was a break-in in progress. Her security system showed police arrived within nine minutes. But it was enough time for thieves to ransack nearly every room of the house.

“My mattress was off to the side,” she said. “My nightstand is actually broken.”

But curiously, Dabaj believes the only items stolen were two small Louis Vuitton handbags worth a few hundred dollars each. Police told her the thieves were likely looking for cash or weapons but didn't find any and settled on the purses, though they did swipe a spare set of house keys.

It all has unnerved a homeowner who was taking all the reasonable steps to be safe.

“I'll constantly go through my head why they chose this house,” Dlabaj said. “It seems like it would be one of the more difficult targets.”

A surveillance camera at the front of her home captured images of a man knocking on her door. He then walked away and got into the passenger side of a light-colored pickup truck near M.T. Reilly Elementary School. Police are still reviewing the video to determine if he is connected to the crime.

Anyone with information is urged to call Dallas police.