April fools: three of them

New American, The, June 9, 2008 by Kurt Williamsen

Three individuals from South Bend, Indiana--Daniel Sizemore, Philip Chappell, and Andrea Bachleda--apparently stole from homes as a livelihood. Their modus operandi seems to have had Bachleda knocking on house doors to see if anyone was home. Then if an unoccupied house was located, Bachleda's two male companions kicked in a door, and they took what they wanted.

On April 1 at about 1:20 p.m., they were plying their trade in Berrien Township, Michigan, when a homeowner threw a couple of glitches into their game plan. The first glitch was that the 36-year-old homeowner did not answer her door when Bachleda knocked on it, giving the three burglars a false signal that the house was ripe for robbing. The second glitch the homeowner provided became apparent when the three miscreants entered the woman's house. The woman had heard them and loaded a shotgun to give them a proper reception.

The three saw the shotgun and fled, but the homeowner called 911 and gave their descriptions and the description of their blue car to police, who caught the three shortly thereafter. Inside the trio's car was a large number of items, including laptops, a television, and jewelry, that had been stolen from another home in the area that day. Police spokesman Lt. David Chandler told WSBT Channel 2: "Through interviews we were able to get confessions."