Man says burglars spent an hour raiding his garage, pointed gun as they fled

MURRAY, Utah —A man said a group of burglars spent more than an hour stealing property from his garage before he came out of his house and suddenly found himself in a gunpoint exchange with the thieves.

Multiple surveillance cameras positioned outside the home didn’t deter the suspects but captured most of the action, which started after 3:20 a.m. on March 19.

On Friday, Monte Adams sat at his computer and provided a play-by-play as the video showed the suspects, largely clad in black, trying to cut through a screen with a large knife before ultimately kicking open a side door to the garage.

“All they’ve got to do is barely kick the door, and it breaks open,” he said. “I mean, they literally just gutted my garage.”

Adams said the burglars stole snowboards, tools, lights, and other valuables as well as tax documents and deeply-sentimental family photographs while leaving behind significant damage to his truck.

One suspect attempted to kick open the door to Adams’ house but was unsuccessful. Adams said that noise, however, was what ultimately awakened him after 4:00 a.m.

Adams said he tried to scare away the thieves by setting off his truck’s alarm, but they continued for roughly 15 more minutes.

When he grew impatient for police to arrive, Adams said he finally grabbed his gun and went outside to confront the suspects.

“That’s when I went out, and I’m like, ‘what the hell,’” Adams said. “The guy runs across the street and gets in a Bronco, and the driver points a pistol at me, and I was like, ‘it’s not worth shooting at him.’ He didn’t shoot at me, and I was like,’ the crime’s already been committed; am I going to shoot at them? They pointed a gun at me, and I was just like, ‘whatever.’ The damage had already been done.”

While Adams didn’t shoot, his cameras collectively shot ample video that he believed should help identify some suspects. He said several were involved, and they appeared to use as many as four vehicles. At least two cars—a maroon sedan and a painted-over truck—were captured parking in Adams’ driveway as suspects loaded valuables into the vehicles.

“They were watching traffic, talking through headsets to all these other guys, and then they knew if the cops were coming and that so they could all disperse,” he said.

One face, he said, was particularly recognizable in the video as one of the suspects attempted to kick open the door to his home while smoking a cigarette.

Another burglar sported a distinctive gait abnormality.

“This guy has a significantly different shoe and a different limp,” Adams said. “It’s like he has a shorter leg than the other.”

In the weeks since the crime, Adams said police have come up with few leads. He was hopeful news coverage would make a difference in catching the burglars.

“Somebody’s got to know who these guys are,” Adams said.

Anybody with information on the case was asked to contact Murray Police Detective Hoyne at 801-264-2561 and reference case MR22-9318.

Adams had been burglarized on two previous occasions over the past nine years and said he feared this group—which seemed sophisticated and particularly brazen—would strike again.

“The bad thing is, this can happen to anybody,” Adams said. “They don’t care.”