Grant Park Couple Posts Break-In On Web

ATLANTA -- No longer are victims of crimes relying solely on the police to solve them.

A couple in Grant Park is using the popular video-sharing website YouTube to warn their neighbors about burglars who hit their home. And they're hoping that video will put the criminals on alert that a lot of people are looking out for them.

Dan and Alyssa Kopp have taken crime fighting to a whole new level.

"It was very creepy at the point where you see them walk into our house and you can no longer see them, it just makes your stomach turn," said Alyssa Kopp as she watched a videotape of the burglary.

The burglary happened while she and her husband were at work, but their security system captured the whole thing.

On the surveillance video you can see one suspect wearing a red cap, white t-shirt and blue jeans scope out the home looking in a front window. Then two more suspects enter the picture and check the inside of the house again. They go around to a side door and one of the suspects kicks the door in.

The next thing you see is one of the suspects leaving the house with a laptop and digital camera. Then two others carry out the Kopp's widescreen TV. They get into an SUV and pull away. The Kopps believe the vehicle is a Nissan Pathfinder.

Dan Kopp posted the video on YouTube.

"You know I heard stories of other neighbors having things happen recently so maybe it was the same guys," he said.

Sure enough, a resident in nearby East Atlanta notified the Kopps about a burglary at their home. They too posted it on YouTube. Four suspects are seen entering their home; three of them look identical to the three suspects who broke into the Kopp's home. The suspect's took a wide screen television. It happened a half-hour before the Kopp's house was broken into.

The Kopps put in the security system when they built their new home on Broyles Street. They moved into the house two months ago. They have lived in Grant Park for four years and knew that break-ins were a common occurrence.

"People were stealing flat screen TV's, and I knew that once our house was built I could not prevent that from happening," Kopp said. "But I knew that I could at least get their face on camera."

"I would say probably most of the neighborhood has seen it by now and everyone is looking for that car," his wife Alyssa said.

Now many people in Atlanta have seen it and a lot of people around the world.

The Kopps reported the crime to Atlanta Police. Anyone who might recognize the suspect's or their vehicle is asked to call the police department.