LUMBERTON, NC (WBTW) – A couple in Lumberton who lost nearly everything in Hurricane Matthew says they’ve been victimized repeatedly by burglars. Home surveillance video shows burglars rummaging through the home for hours at a time.
Virginia Hays says she and her husband tried to save as many of their belongings as possible by storing everything in their garage, but since February 13, the couple has reported six different burglaries to their home.
After surviving Hurricane Matthew and the subsequent flooding, the Hays couple has to barricade their garage door to try to keep burglars out.
“They came back in, over and over and over. They kept invading us,” describes Hays.
Robeson County deputies confirm they have six incident reports for breaking and entering into the Hays’ home, the most recent from just two days ago.
“The people in this area know this house was flooded,” says Hays. “They saw it as an easy target.”
The couple decided to put up a surveillance camera earlier this month.
“Here they are with shopping bags,” says Hays as she points to her computer playing surveillance video of the burglars in her home.
The Hays watch as four people spend hours going through their belongings, and the burglars returning three times.
“This is more personal,” says Hays. “Matthew was an act of the weather. The things we could salvage were really personal, like I said, the picture of my grandfather. We can’t get that back there is no way. They didn’t even know it at the time when they (burglars) threw it in the floor. They didn’t care.”
Frustrated with slow developments in the numerous police investigations into who was continuously breaking into her home, Hays decided to write the burglars a letter.
“My garage is not your personal Walmart for you to come and pick through taking everything want. You may not realize it, but what you’ve been digging through is just about all Hurricane Matthew left us.”
The Hays have lost more than $3,000 in property.
“They don’t respect themselves and they don’t respect anybody else,” says Hays of the invaders.
Major Anthony Thompson with the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office says investigators are developing suspects.
On Friday evening, 27-year-old Donald Crawford Hunt, 24-year-old Steven Kendrick Hunt and 26-year-old Tracy Victoria Wynn were arrested and taken to the Robeson County Detention Center. Each suspect was charged with one count of felony breaking and entering and one count of felony larceny after breaking and entering.
