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Norfolk thief leaves backyard gate open. Homeowner says his dogs could have run out

Posted at 8:26 PM, Jul 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-23 22:58:26-04

NORFOLK, Va. — A brazen thief stole copper pipe from a man's backyard during the day. But it's not what he stole angering the homeowner.

Simon Hallberg and his wife have lived in Ghent for more than a year. They love the area and never worry about anything. But Hallberg said something that happened last week has him concerned.

"I was flying when this happened," said Hallberg who is a pilot in the Navy. "My wife was leaving to go to the post office when she saw a guy walking that way with copper pipe and thought 'That's funny cause I thought we had some.' She didn't make the connection until she got home and saw it was missing."

When Hallberg got home, he checked his surveillance video and saw a man come onto his property, look into his backyard and leave. Then, he comes back, goes into Hallberg's yard, steals the pipe then walks off. Hallberg isn't concerned about the value of the copper pipe. What he's more worried about is how his gate was left open.

"We let them out to go to the bathroom pretty frequently and we assume that's going to be closed. The little one would have taken off after a squirrel or something like that and it's kind of scary," said Hallberg.

Now, he's hoping someone recognizes the thief and he'll be caught since it's unsettling.

"My wife was in the kitchen when he did the first pass right there, which is kind of scary cause some random guy was right here as she was home alone," said Hallberg.

Hallberg said he plans on getting higher quality cameras and when they do let the dogs out, they'll be more vigilant about checking the gate.