A US woman, who describes herself as as a former "cat burglar'' has opened up about how she broke into more than 200 homes and stole over $7 million (Rs 58,22,71,550). Jennifer Gomez recently appeared on ''Locked In with Ian Bick'' and revealed her methods and tactics, listing what she would look for in a home that she was going to burglarize, the New York Post reported. As the name suggests, ''cat burglars'' are essentially thieves who are adept at entering and leaving the burglarized place without attracting notice.
Gomez, who was in prison between 2011 and 2020 for burglary, mostly targeted affluent neighbourhoods in Florida. ''I always wanted nice homes. I mean, at least million-dollar homes. I would always try to find a home that was in a cul-de-sac so I wouldn't get lost in there … or a home that backed up to a street,” Gomez confessed during the interview.
The former thief further said that her intimate knowledge of wealthy lifestyles helped her craft her criminal exploits.
''I knew a lot of things about how wealthy people lived because my parents were both physicians. They're probably going to have a privacy fence of some kind. I can hide behind that when I get in their backyard. I'm completely concealed,'' she said.
Further, she carefully curated her wardrobe, studied pet behaviour, deciphered security setup clues, and owned sophisticated tools to gain easy entry into houses.
Out of prison, Gomez, now a TikTok Influencer, advises others on how to keep their homes safe from burglaries by pointing out things she used to look out for to see whether a house would be profitable to target. ''There's a lot of things that you can tell from the outside of a home that will give a burglar a lot of information. Stop advertising everything that's going on in your house and with your house,'' she urged others.
Watch the video:
''Delve into Jennifer Gomez's fascinating journey from ordinary life to sophisticated cat burglar, breaking into nearly 200 homes and accumulating over $7 million. Uncover her ingenious tricks, eventual capture, and the unique challenges of giving birth while serving a 10-year prison sentence,'' the video was captioned on YouTube.