Friday, October 1, 2010

The times they are a'changing.

Twice during the summer, in the middle of a Saturday night, a white sedan parked outside of our house. Since we're the last house on a dead end street, and the road literally ends in front of our house, it was strange. The first time a person in a hoodie got out and walked back into the woods, and was gone for a couple of hours. The second time, the person walked back up the street. We were concerned, so we stopped at the local police station for advice.

The officer we spoke to said if it happened again, to call the police. He said any car parked outside in the middle of the night is suspicious.

At 0400 Thursday morning, in the rain, the car was back. Sitting running. So Ralph called the police. Two police cars pulled up, and the officers walked all around, shone flashlights into the car, and talked to the occupant.

A third officer went up our driveway. Our garage sits about 100 feet off the street. The officer asked Ralph to look around and see if anything was missing, as the guy in the car is a known scavenger, especially of copper. Things had been moved, but nothing was missing.

Then they opened my car door- I never lock my car in the garage. The car smelled like smoke, and the $18 I had in the console, as well as the several dollars in change, were missing.

Because no one witnessed it, the guy couldn't be charged. The police told him to go away and stay off this street. The one officer came in to talk to us. He said our little town isn't the way it used to be. There have been burglaries, and it's not safe to leave my car unlocked.

Ralph went thru the car- my library books were still there, the papers I had in it to take to work weren't disturbed, and the GPS was still safely under the seat in it's little pink bag. The next morning I realized something had been taken. I'd been out to lunch with the work group, and I'd brought home a piece of cream cheese bread, and forgot and left it on the passenger front seat, and it was gone, to add insult to injury.

So even distance up a driveway, and motion sensor lights aren't enough to stop a determined thief. I hate it, but that's the way it is, and I have to lock my car everytime I come home.

And so it goes.
Holly

1 comment:

Joanne said...

They sure are changing! I am so sorry! It is awful to have your life invaded.