Tented Homes Luring a Criminal Kind of Pest

What kind of insect would take advantage of someone whose house is being fumigated?

A lowlife worm, says Janice Dawson, whose Carson home was looted while it was shrouded in a tent erected by an extermination company.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating the burglary, which occurred when intruders peeled back the tarp covering the house and pried open a rear door. Several rooms were ransacked, and photographic gear, video game equipment, jewelry and other items were taken.

At the time, the two-story dwelling was pumped full of Vikane, a gas that kills termites and other pests but is potentially lethal to humans as well.

“The exterminators wouldn’t even let the sheriff go in,” said Dawson, a Los Angeles Times office manager. “They said it was too dangerous.”

The break-in earlier this month is similar to a string of burglaries earlier this year at Carson-area homes that were tented and being fumigated.

But detectives around Southern California and beyond have reported seeing more instances of the caper.

There was a series of the crimes in the Inland Empire over the last year -- including four in Riverside alone.

Police investigating a stolen minivan in Riverside last summer found a gas mask inside after a 23-year-old theft suspect crashed it. Investigators learned that the vehicle had been swiped from the driveway of a home being tented for termites.

Riverside authorities also probed the theft of a classic 1965 Chevrolet convertible from the garage of a house that was tented for fumigation.

Scattered reports of tent burglaries have also been reported around Los Angeles County, though officials stress it’s far from a crime wave.

It also remains unclear what kind of risk the burglars are taking by entering homes filled with chemicals.

Residents often don’t consider the possibility of theft.

“I don’t think it even crosses their minds. They think there are going to be dangerous chemicals in there, so who’s going to go in?” said Bill Bancroft, owner of Patrol One, a Santa Ana-based security service. “A thief might think entirely differently, though. They’re thinking they can use a cheap gas mask and with the tent, nobody is going to even see them.”

Workers generally seal a house with a tent, then dump chemicals inside. The gas is supposed to flow through the structure, kill the pests and dissipate within a day. Exposure to large amounts of some chemicals can cause vomiting, breathing problems and even muscle seizures.

Korrey Hooper, whose Terminix Co. fumigators handled Dawson’s home, said thieves sometimes see the unattended and hidden-from-view houses as easy pickings -- even if the fumes inside are deadly.

“It happens a lot. You have to know the fumigation process. You have to have your own air supply. Within the industry we hear about this all the time,” Hooper said.

His firm is conducting its own investigation into the burglary, which will include the use of polygraph tests, he said. However, since his workers had keys to Dawson’s home, there would have been no need for them to break in, he said.

Hooper said Dawson will be reimbursed for her losses after she inventories her house.

Smaller exterminator companies, however, often do not cover the theft of personal property from homes being fumigated.

They recommend that valuables be removed, or that private security guards be hired to watch the property, a suggestion endorsed by the state’s Department of Consumer Affairs.

Bancroft said managers of condominiums and apartments frequently contract for guard service during fumigations, although individual homeowners rarely do.

And punishment for Dawson’s thieves if they are ever caught and convicted? How about the gas chamber?