Richelieu TV thieves caught on camera

CTV Montreal: Caught on tape Richelieu residents posted a video on Facebook of thieves in action, in hopes of catching the criminals, Cindy Sherwin reports.

Jean and Nicole Groulx have been robbed three times in the past few weeks.

The Richelieu homeowners became so fed up, that they opted to take matters into their own hands -- installing a round-the-clock  video surveillance system in their home, capturing footage of the thieves in action, and posting the evidence on Facebook as a plea for help.

“If you don’t do nothing, nothing will happen -- you have to do something” said Nicole. “I have no choice for my family and I have no choice for all of my neighbours.”

The first time, thieves stole a flat-screen TV which the Groulxes replaced. Just days later,  the Groulx home was targeted again, with thieves making off with a second TV.

"I can tell you that it's terrible, really. I have a hard time to sleep," said Nicole.

Fearing that thieves would target their home again, the Groulx family installed a surveillance system, bought the strongest bracket they could find, and acquired a third television.

Sure enough, thieves kicked in the door and after a short 52-second struggle managed to rip the TV off the wall.

But this time, on Jan. 20, the thieves were caught on video, which the Groulxes have given to police and put it online in hopes of tracking down the thieves.

"We gave the info to the police, it's their job to do it, we're doing it to help," said Jean. "It has to stop."

In the video two young men can be spotted kicking at the door three times before it's broken open.

The pair then race directly to where the TV is located, and with one of them jumping up on a mantel they rip the large, flat-screen TV from the wall, then run out of the house.

Nicole said the repeated thefts have left her scared and distracted, especially since police don't seem to have many leads.

"I have difficulty to concentrate at work. I have so many calls to do and that disturbs my work, but we have to continue. We just think about that and we think about what we can do to secure the house."

Sgt. Pierre Tremblay said the local police have upped their patrols in the area over the past few weeks.

The video has yielded a couple of leads, and the information has been passed along to the police