Someone broke into Nicole Hughes’ home in the residential neighborhood of St. John on Monday at 9 p.m. This event changed how she and her husband feel and behave at home. (Jessica Singer/CBC)
It was Monday at 9 p.m. when someone broke into Nicole Hughes’ home in the residential area of St. John’s.
The person likely entered through an unlocked back door, grabbed a bag filled with personal items and fled.
Royal Newfoundland Police spokesman Const. James Cadigan says this is the most common type of break and enter that police encounter today and calls it a “crime of opportunity”.
Hughes was at her home in Churchill Park with her three young children when it happened earlier this month. She says she and her husband never felt the need to close doors and windows when they weren’t sleeping at home.
He says that since this incident, the days of keeping the doors open are long gone.
“Once someone is in your home, it’s another level of, you know, just invading your personal space,” she said.
“I’m more alert looking out the windows… checking the locks more than ever… probably every hour when I’m home and again when I go to bed.”
Burglary
Hughes was working in the basement when she heard someone coming upstairs, on the same floor where her three young children were sleeping in their bedrooms.
She thought it was her husband who jumped out for a moment, but his car was not in the driveway. Frightened, she called him and asked if he was at home. He said no.
“I think as soon as I noticed the van wasn’t there, I panicked,” she said.
“Knowing that someone was so close to my home and my children is a very uncomfortable and scary feeling.”
WATCH | Checking the door every hour. Hear how the house burglary affected the St. family. John:
Someone broke into this woman’s house while her three children were sleeping
One night, Nicole Hughes from St. John’s heard a sound and was terrified as she realized that a stranger had entered her home while her three young children were sleeping in their rooms. CBC’s Jessica Singer spoke with Hughes about what she’s doing differently since the incident and the complexities of burglary on a societal level.
She checked if the children were okay and her husband ran home. She never saw anyone enter or leave the house, and she never heard a door slamming.
The surveillance camera in the front door did not detect any movement, so Hughes believes the person came and left through the back door. Both the front and rear doors were open.
The next morning, Hughes discovered that her work and personal bags had been stolen, including her wallet, her children’s MCP cards, glasses, and a set of car keys.
The family has lived on the street for almost five years, and Hughes says other neighbors have had their vehicles and homes broken into.
Increased crime
According to Statistics Canada data referenced in the new St. Report. John’s, aimed at tackling violence and crime in the city, Newfoundland and Labrador’s crime rate increased by 5 per cent in 2022-2023.
The Building Safer Communities strategy, approved by the city on Oct. 8, lists several factors it believes are contributing to rising crime, such as food insecurity, homelessness and unemployment rates. The report shows that in St. St. John’s, homelessness is on the rise, and from 2022 to 2023, the food insecurity rate in Newfoundland and Labrador increased by 3 per cent.
However, data from the RNC shows that residential breaks and entries into the northeastern Avalon Peninsula, Corner Brook and Labrador West are not increasing. According to the RNC, there were 669 break and enters in northeast Avalon in 2018 and 523 in 2023. In Labrador West, 29 break and enters were reported in 2018 and only two in 2023.
From the St. Safety Report John’s also shows that in the years 2014–2023, the number of police-reported cases of burglaries and burglaries in the city steadily decreased.
But Cadigan says the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“We certainly believe there are events that go unreported,” he said.
Royal Newfoundland Police spokesman Const. James Cadigan says one of the most important things to do if someone suspects their home has been broken into is not to touch anything and contact the police immediately. (Curtis Hicks/CBC)
Breaking and entering doesn’t always mean someone is breaking into the house and ransacking it, he says. Instead, many perpetrators look through windows or doors and see if they are open. If someone realizes they have easy access, they will come and take car keys, purses, wallets – items that are in plain sight.
“It’s a quick case, so it’s a situation where perpetrators feel they’re less likely to be detected,” he said.
“There was a period in recent months where we saw events between 7 p.m. and midnight when we generally believed people were at home.”
How to protect your home
Cadigan says one of the most important things to do if someone suspects their home has been broken into is to not touch anything and call the police immediately.
The more information and evidence the police have, the more likely they will be able to recover the stolen items and catch the perpetrator.
One of the most important things is to make sure windows are secured and doors are always closed, even when everyone is home.
Hughes says the family has installed more security cameras on their property, is considering automatic locks for the front and back doors, and now has a dog.
Although her sense of security has been shaken, Hughes says the break-ins are a symptom of a larger, underlying problem in St. John’s.
“You know, I’m afraid for my family’s safety and my personal safety… But I also think it just speaks volumes about the problems that we’re facing right now,” she said.
“We have a housing crisis, crime is rising, drug use is rising and I think all these burglaries show that there are people who, for various reasons, desperately need money.”
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