Burglars repeatedly target home of Oakland Hills fire victim

    SAN FRANCISCO, California (KPIX) -- A survivor of the Oct. 18 Oakland Hills Keller Fire said burglars have broken into her yellow-tagged home eight times to steal things in November and December.

Homeowner Delane Sims said losing her home was tough, but the repeated burglaries have been demoralizing.

"It's another dagger that you have to experience on top of all the pain," said Sims.

Firefighters said the Keller Fire burned 15 acres and severely damaged Sims house on Maynard Ave. Sims' husband was able to escape the fast moving fire.

The house suffered major fire and water damage. The couple lived in that home for about 30 years. It was where they raised their children and hosted holiday dinners.

"It's really horrible, it's like they're snatching your heart out all over again," said Sims.

Police records showed the first burglary happened in early November. Sims said the burglars first broke a lockbox with keys inside that were meant for the contractors to gain entry into the home.

After that burglary, contractors changed the locks.

"This is one of the ways in which the thieves came in. And they just broke the window and literally crawled in and took a whole refrigerator and took it down the street and put it in a vehicle," said Sims.

One of her sons parked in the driveway and slept in a car to prevent burglars from coming back.

Delane said the burglars came back and threatened her son when he confronted the men.

"One person slowly put his hand into his pocket. And my son was able to back his car out of the area. He shortly thereafter saw the police and flagged them down. And then they were able to come and look for the people. But by then, they were long gone," said Sims.

Sims said the burglars took whatever they could find in the home, even things that appeared to have water damage.

"This is just one of the times that they came in and went into our garage. So everything has been taken out of our garage. There is just nothing left here," said Sims.

The Oakland Police Officer's Association president Huy Nguyen said officers feel extremely bad about the burglaries on top of the fire. They wish they could do more for crime victims like Sims, but it has been challenging due to the staffing shortage.

"In one call (from the Sims family), we didn't come out until eight hours later. In another call, we didn't come until three hours later. So, I understand the frustration of our community member. It's very difficult for us to provide the needs of our community with the small number of officers that we have," said Nguyen.

Officers said they are overwhelmed by the amount of calls every day and they're constantly triaging from one active incident to the next.

"We want offenders to be held accountable. That's the most important thing. And we're working on getting a new (district attorney) appointed here, and hopefully, that can happen very soon, and we're also looking to see if a new mayor can come in here in our city and turn our city around," said Nguyen.

Sims said she supports the police and fire departments as they are dealing budget cuts. She hasn't lost faith on humanity despite the repeated burglaries. She said she's speaking up so other fire survivors can learn from her experience.

"I'm convinced that there are more good people in the world, just because of how people showed up for us after the fire and how they're showing up for (fire survivors) in Southern California," said Sims.

Sims recommends fellow fire survivors to go to uphelp.org to get information on how to protect themselves after a tragedy.

Police said no one has been arrested in the burglaries. One investigator told CBS News Bay Area since the police department is so severely understaffed, they just don't have people investigating these so-called "low priority" cases where no one was hurt.