Chandler home garage burglarized ahead of the holidays
CHANDLER, Ariz. - Thieves were caught on camera burglarizing the garage of a home in Chandler, as a mother was home alone at the time with her daughter.
For the Bickel family, while the items stolen from their garage are replaceable, their sense of security was taken from them.
"Like, how dare that man just walked in the garage and have the boldness to just do that very comfortably," said Gabriela Bickel.
The Bickels' garage was open for just five minutes.
"It felt like almost getting violated at that point when I saw the video," said Gabriela.
In the video, a car can be seen quickly pulling up, and a man walked into the garage, stealing two hoverboards and riding off with a bike.
The blue bike is what 12-year-old Lexi uses to get to school every day.
"She said ‘why did he do that to me? Like, what did I do to him?’" Gabriela recounted.
Heading into the holidays, the family can't stop thinking about what happened. Meanwhile, their sense of safety is dwindling.
"I just think about it like it could’ve been so much worse, you know?" said Gabriela. "Like, we could’ve been hurt."
When the Bickels checked their cameras, they noticed it wasn’t the first time the men were at the home.
"I’m a little bit more paranoid," said Gabriela. Even my daughter remind me ‘mom, close the garage. Close the garage.'"
The Bickles say the men did it with ease, fearing they’ve done this before.
"No one should be entering our home," said Gabriela. "It felt like a warning, you know. Like, make sure you know your surroundings."
Meanwhile, the Chandler community has come together for this family, offering bikes and ways to help. They were also able to get Lexi a new bike.