Military Couple Believe They Were Targeted In Home Burglary
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - Surveillance video shows burglars stealing from a home in Aurora. The military veterans who live in the house think their service to our country may have made them a target.
"She's a Navy vet. I'm a Marine Corps vet," Rob Gwizdalski said.
They have flags from both branches flying front and center on their home, but for a brief moment, they took them down.
"This was not amateur hour. We were targeted," he said.
On Jan. 21, the couple says three men showed up at their home while they were at work. They may have been posing as utility workers and left locator flags in their backyard.
"They haven't been here for two months," Gwizdalski said about the last time Century Link was at his home.
The crooks would eventually break into their garage and into their home. A surveillance camera was rolling as one man is seen loading up the couples belongings.
"Several nights I didn't get much sleep because of it. Every little noise would wake me up," Gwidalski's wife, Karen Burns, said.
Laptops, a Marine Corps ring and five guns were stolen including an 1838 Colt 44 and a Ruger .357 revolver. Items that were priceless to Karen who used the same weapon as detective in the Navy.
"It meant something to me you know, and now I have to replace it," she said.
When police came to their home to investigate, the discussion came back to the flags outside of their home, leading the couple to believe they were singled out.
"Military is going to have weapons in their house so I honestly think that's exactly what caused them to pick our house," Burns said.
While they couple is understandably shaken, they are not letting the criminals win.
"I took them down, but now I've decided 'No, I'm putting them back on the front of my house. I'm not going to hide,'" Gwisdalski said.