OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — One Omaha family says they've been victimized twice this year. Once after a suspect broke into their house and stole priceless items, and again they say by the Omaha Police Department's handling of their case.
Back in January, Phil Collins got a call after his wife got home from work. "Got a call from my wife about 3:30 in the afternoon asking why the front door was open and if I had come home sometime during the day and then she quickly came upstairs and she realized that our house had been robbed."
Their house was broken into, Collins says the suspect entered his house after a window lock wasn't fully latched. Collins says the suspect stole electronics like video games and headphones, among other things. "Family heirlooms that you can't put a price on, cuff links that belonged to my dad, jewelry that belonged to my wife's Grandmother, the very first ring I bought my wife was stolen."
He later got video from his neighbors garage that showed a suspect walking away with two bags, which he says were full of the stolen items. He contacted the Omaha Police Department, but through his own research he found the suspect's mother and went to talk with her.
"We showed his mother (the videos) at home and she identified him by the shoes and the coat he was wearing," says Collins. Collins also says that conversation was captured on an O.P.D. body camera as they had a police escort come with them to the mother's house. Collins says he's asked multiple times to see the video, but has been denied. O.P.D. says they had no comment on the situation.
The suspect was later picked up by police for a different robbery, and was found with some of the stolen items. The suspect was in court Friday, as it was decided not to charge him for burglary. The decision was a disappointment for the family. "We don't get any restitution, we don't have any recourse, he doesn't do one minute of any jail time of robbing our house of almost $7,000.00 dollars worth of items," says Collins.
The Collins family thinks if O.P.D. acted quicker on the case and presented all the evidence, they feel the outcome would have been different.
"A lot of what we earn go towards your salaries and you let us down you completely, you did not care about my family," says Collins.
Again, O.P.D. declined to comment on the case. In Friday's court hearing the suspect was given probation instead of jail time. Collins says his homeowners policy didn't cover any of his belongings, and as a result of Friday's decision, the family was able to get some items out of evidence.
