You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout – I’m telling you why…

Christmas is just around the corner, are you prepared for a ‘reverse burglary’ by Santa Clause though? Read on!

Christmas time is here. Check out www.isitchristmas.com tomorrow and it’ll confirm as much – December 25th is only hours away and with it will almost certainly come a massive rise in strange ‘reverse burglaries’.

What exactly is a ‘reverse burglary’ you ask? Well, you may recall last year I featured several posts from Force CID’s DS Kimo on our attempts to capture a suspect known to us as ‘Santa Clause’.

First of all there was our appeal for witnesses which was followed by the arrest of Clause the very next day. We thought we had the case nailed but then on Christmas Eve there was shocking news – our suspect turned out to be an imposter and the real Clause was still at large.

We’d failed and the consequence was that Clause broke into millions of houses around the world over the next few hours, stealing small amounts of brandy but leaving behind high value goods under people’s Christmas trees.

One year on and whilst the operation to capture Clause is ongoing, it’s looking unlikely that he’ll be located before he strikes again this evening.

As this is the case, the best I can offer is a few Christmas crime prevention tips from DS Kimo on how you can best safeguard your house against a strike by Clause himself.

Here’s the advice from the man in the know:

• Hide the mince pies – Never leave small plates of mince pies and a glass of brandy on open display. We know that Clause pretty much lives off these and they’re as good as an invitation for him to come in and wreak havoc.
• Block your chimney – Any hardware store should be able to supply the tools you’ll need to ensure that the chimney is not accessible. This is essential as 99% of the time Clause gains access to properties by the chimney.
• Throw away your ‘Santa Stop Here’ sign – At any other time of year would you put up a sign welcoming burglars? Of course not, don’t encourage the jolly fat man!
• Obstruct his landing strip – All available intel suggests that Santa reaches rooftops by using a magical sleigh drawn by reindeer. Litter your rooftop with barriers to frustrate his landing and maybe slop a little anti-vandal paint around too.
• Know what to look for – We believe Clause usually wears a bright red suit with white fur lining and heavy boots, he shouldn’t be hard to spot.
• Listen out - As well as wearing a bright red suit, Santa seems to have trouble keeping the noise down. If he’s nearby you will probably be able to hear him laughing loudly and encouraging his reindeer to take flight.
• Don’t write to him – Clause operates in a strange way, he seems to receive letters sent to him up the chimney and then a few weeks later arrives with many of the requested items. Don’t make it easy for him, if he doesn’t know what you want he may not come in the first place.

Now I’m on duty this evening on a special ‘Santa watch’ team so we’ll be keeping our eyes open for any Clause-related activity in the Walsall area and we’ll need you to do the same.

If you do suspect that you’ve seen Clause, please get in touch with me via Twitter and I’ll see what I can do about sending a car or two over.

Beyond this stay safe and have a very merry Christmas!

Rich

It was Christmas Eve babe, in the drunk tank…

Via West Midlands Police Press Releases -

Male arrested for millions of burglaries in every country on the entire planet

December 20th 2011

A MALE was arrested as part of an operation last night on suspicion of 4,029,289,486 counts of burglary, 2,957,292,589 counts of theft and one count of operating a sleigh whilst drunk.

Santa Claus (69) was apprehended as a result of an intelligence-led operation launched by West Midlands Police Force CID lasting over the past seven months.

At the time of the arrest, Claus was found to be in possession of several million pounds worth of assorted high value goods and also a quantity of marked mince pies and carrots which has been left in ‘bait’ houses on several different continents.

When searched in custody, Claus was found to be in possession of a concealed supply of candy canes, yule log and Christmas pudding.

Claus was caught in a sting operation after targeting a specially rigged house in the Aldridge area of Walsall at which at least seventy police officers were waiting. Detectives believe he was commencing a practice run ahead of a larger crime spree planned for around December 24th.

DS Kimo, from Force CID, said “Santa Claus is a calculating and dangerous criminal. Working alone we believe him to be responsible for thefts of mince pies, carrots and brandy around the world, possibly as far back as the fifteenth century. We are working with Interpol and other partnership agencies to identify both victims and witnesses.

“The operation to catch Claus has been long and difficult. Criminals of Claus’s character are thankfully rare but people around the world should be able to feel at ease knowing he is now safely behind bars where is belongs.”

DS Kimo also warned against copy-cat criminal activity in the wake of Clause’s arrest.

“Make no mistake, criminal activity on this scale will not be tolerated and we are able to focus the full force of our resources to ensure that offenders are brought to justice”.

Claus has been charged with all but four of the charges of burglary for which he was arrested and has been remanded in police custody until his appearance at court later this week.

The nine flying reindeer that Claus had with him at the time of his arrest have been turned over to the care of the RSPCA for re-homing.

ENDS

He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake…

Via West Midlands Police Press Releases –

Serial mince pie and carrot thief, enters houses via chimney. Can you help identify him?

December 19th 2011

WEST MIDLANDS POLICE are appealing for information from members of the public ahead of an anticipated series of burglaries across the region and further afield, predicted to take place on the night of December 24th.

Working with several other police forces under the supervision of Scotland Yard and liaising with Interpol, detectives are keen to track a male who they believe picks Christmas Eve and the early hours of Christmas Day to break into houses up and down the country in what has been termed a ‘sophisticated and well planned attack’.

Intelligence gathered from a range of sources suggests that as in previous years, the male will attempt to gain access to properties via the chimney having landed on the rooftop in what eye witnesses have described as a vehicle similar to a sleigh and drawn by a number of animals, possibly reindeer.

Police E-Fit of the suspect

Once inside the male follows the same peculiar MO, placing high value goods under the victim’s Christmas tree before stealing small quantities of brandy, mince pies and carrots. The male then exits the house again via the chimney before moving onto neighbouring properties and has been known to target whole towns or even counties during the course of a single night.

The wanted male is described as being in his late sixties, around 5’8″ tall and has a plump build with a ruddy, red cheeked complexion. He has a thick white beard and is said to commonly wear a distinctive red suit with white trim, heavy black boots and a pointed red hat with white bobble. Whilst believed to be silent when inside people’s houses, the male is apparently quite vocal whilst on rooftops as he has been heard saying in a friendly, booming voice phrases such as ‘Ho Ho Ho!’ and ‘Merry Christmas Everyone!’.

DS Kimo, from WMP Force CID, said “We are keen to speak to this male as soon as possible and would urge him to attend the nearest police station at the earliest opportunity’.

Homeowners are should remain vigilant in the nights leading up to Christmas Day and are advised not to leave plates of mince pies on open display. Should the male be spotted, residents are encouraged to phone the international operator straight away and ask to be put through to the Santa Taskforce in Lapland.

ENDS