Seattle police have more details in the “puppy cam” burglary case that occurred in Ballard last week.

According to the Seattle Police, on Feb. 25 a Ballard woman’s pet monitoring camera system recorded the thief as he kicked in her door, walked past her two small dogs and took a vintage jewelry box.

The resident watched the burglar via live feed through her pet camera system. When the suspect was inside the residence, the home alarm system was tripped, and the thief quickly fled.

The resident went home and called police. She was able to promptly provide the video footage to officers.

So far, the burglar has not been identified, but Officer Dane Jones, the officer at the scene, has a hunch for who the suspect is.

A neighbor of the victim told police that he saw the suspect and that he looked like a man that has “checked in” on an RV parked in the neighborhood. Officers ran the license plate of the RV and found a potential name. They crosschecked the name with the SPD crime database looking for a white male of medium build in his later 20s.

“I realized I had investigated (the suspect) just last year for two burglaries almost identical in MO to this burglary,” reported Officer Jones.

In those burglaries the suspect had kicked in the doors of two seemly random houses. In the second burglary, which occurred only a few minutes after the first, a victim was home, and the suspect was chased off. He was seen driving off in a white van with stolen license plates from yet another white van.

The report states, ”Not only does his MO precisely match this burglary, his most current photo bears a striking resemblance to what I could see in my lower quality images of this burglary suspect. His listed physicals are also close to what this burglar looked like. I could not yet say with certainty that it was him though.”

In the burglary that occurred on Feb.25, the suspect went directly for a jewelry box in the back bedroom, indicating he may have had prior knowledge that it was there. However, in the other burglaries the suspect kicked the doors in at two apparently random homes.

Detective Patrick Michaud of SPD said that burglars do case homes, but for petty burglaries they usually in are in and out of the house quickly.

“It is possible that he did case the home prior to the burglary, but at this point it remains unclear what his actions were leading up to the crime.”

“Burglary tends to be a crime of opportunity. Casing is typically done in high-end burglaries. … A person who broke into a home and knew what they wanted would break in, get the item they are after and then leave quickly. The longer they are there the greater the risk of being caught.”

Proactive thinking and preventing opportunity for criminals are essential to keeping burglars out of residences. Michaud said the best way to make sure it doesn’t happen is to keep things out of site and show sign that someone is present when no one is home.

“Keep your doors locked, close the blinds when you leave and turn on a light if you think it may be dark when you return. Always call police if you see something suspicious and get to know your neighbors. Nextdoor (An online network) is a great tool that allows neighborhoods to have communication between themselves, and they can easily share experiences in a safe environment.”

Detectives are hopeful someone will recognize the man’s photograph. If you do recognize this man please contact North Precinct detectives at (206) 684-5735.