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Waco Burglary Wave has Merchants Seeking Cellular Backup

Burglars who disable security alarms are striking Waco, TX, merchants, and industry experts urge stores and restaurants to arm themselves with backup cellular systems.

Darvin Little said his jewelry store in West Waco was hit a month ago by burglars who silenced his alarm by cutting his phone line. They also cut into his safe, on which they wrote a message in black marker: “The Waco bandits strike again.”

Earlier this week, intruders disabled the alarm at George’s Restaurant & Catering and made their way inside, police report. George’s owner Sammy Citrano declined to comment other than to say: “If someone cuts your phone line, you have no security. As a spokesman for the Waco Restaurant Association, I’m telling members they need a backup. I’m telling all businesses they need a backup.”

James Nix, part-owner of Ambold’s Key Lock & Alarm, said he has seen a surge in burglaries. “No matter whose alarm system you have, it is only as reliable as the phone service,” Nix said, adding that burglars are cutting outside phone lines in some cases to disable the alarms.

Businesses and homeowners can help themselves by having a backup cellular system that transmits signals over cell towers.

“A lot of people aren’t aware they need this backup, and when you try to explain it to them, they don’t pay attention,” Nix said. “We’re going to include fliers in our billings.”

Professional thieves might be able to enter a building protected by a regular alarm system and a backup, Nix said, but odds are against them, and they’d need to be familiar with a building’s interior.

Woody Stroud, owner of Stroud Security Systems, said he has noticed an uptick in orders for backup cellular protection.

“We’re getting calls from businesses that have had problems,” Stroud said, adding that stores and restaurants that have had their alarm systems disabled are at the mercy of intruders.