This is the second time in less than a year that Dan and Alyssa Kopp’s Grant Park home has been broken into. Both times the break-ins were caught on video and uploaded to YouTube by the couple.
The first case, back in October, was solved quickly after a tipster called police to say they recognized the thugs who were busy unloading the Kopp’s widescreen TV at a home. The stolen booty, including a laptop, were recovered.
The latest break-in occurred on August 28. But this time the Kopps had even more surveillance cameras installed in their Broyles Street home. Same scenario, different burglars. Just after 5 p.m. on Friday, the four thugs can be seen on surveillance video arriving in a black Nissan Armada (likely a stolen vehicle).
One thug wearing a green t-shirt and green shorts exits the vehicle, approaches the Kopp’s front door and rings the doorbell several times. Another thug wearing a white tee and blue jeans then exits the truck and rings the doorbell again. Satisfied that there is no one home, the thugs drive around to the back of the home and four men can be seen exiting the truck. All four idiots are seen at the back door pulling their skinny jeans up while a Lil Wayne look-a-like wearing a white tee, jeans and a bandana on his head kicks in the back door in full view of neighbors.
Once inside, the gang spreads out looking for something light to pawn. A thief in a black t-shirt and jeans throws a stool at the couple’s barking dog before the gang leaves with just a laptop. Ironically, the same laptop was stolen in the previous burglary. The thieves in the first robbery are only now being prosecuted for the October 2008 break-in.
The Kopps are at a loss to explain why thieves keep targeting their home. “That’s the million-dollar question,” Alyssa Kopp said. “We have a fence, a dog, surveillance cameras and a security system. But I guess there’s always so much more you can do.”
“It’s doubly frustrating knowing how not cut-and-dry the first case is going through the court system,” she said. “So even if these guys are caught, it’s just the beginning.”
