AES IntelliNet helps police bust bad guys

BEAUMONT, Calif.--Two would-be jewelry store thieves got to cool their heels behind bars at Riverside County Jail rather than make off with a big payday thanks to the joint efforts of the Hemet, Calif. Police, Pacific Alarm Services, The Command Center, Inc. and an AES IntelliNet 7450 XL radio system. According to a Hemet PD news release dated Nov. 27, the perpetrators, Steven Seda of Vista, Calif., and Thomas Murphy of San Diego, used a vacant business next to Dan’s Jewelry Shop at 155 E. Stetson Ave. as a base of operations when they broke into the vacant store on Nov. 26 and cut through the adjoining bathroom wall. According to Morgan Hertel, vice president of operations at the Command Center, Inc., the company that monitors for Pacific Alarm Services, the pair, once through the wall and into Dan’s, quickly located and destroyed the alarm system panel, precluding the digital dialer from sending an alarm signal. “Both panel and radio were destroyed by a heavy object, presumably a hammer,” Hertel said in an email interview. “But before the radio was destroyed it was able to get the alarm signal out.” Dale Williams, vice president and general manager of Pacific Alarm Services, the alarm company that installed Dan’s Jewelry Shop’s alarm system, said it is situations such as this that prove the value of having a radio system for back up. “We put the radio system in as a back up option with every estimate we do,” Williams said. “More and more people are using it … [the owner of Dan’s] was certainly very appreciative of having it. If those guys had been able to be in there for a couple hours, if they’d been able to get into the safe, especially at this time of year, they could have put him out of business.” The AES system sent the alarm through the radio transceiver network so quickly that, despite the fact the panel and radio were destroyed by the perps, The Command Center got the alarm, and Hemet PD responding officers were onsite within 10 minutes. Seda made bail and was due in court to face charges, including the attempted robbery, on Dec. 26. Murphy, who had prior convictions, was being held without bail at Riverside County Jail while he awaits trial.