I debated whether or not to post this, since I know others on the forum are dealing with much worse difficulties and I didn't want to seem like I was feeling sorry for myself. But I feel the need to vent a bit, so I hope you'll indulge me.
* This happened last week. I have a second floor apartment with only the front door and a side window as possible points of entry. I got home in the evening and saw the windowscreen removed, the glass busted, and the lights on inside, and knew things were going downhill from there. After the initial shock, I rushed in (the door was slightly ajar) with weapons drawn but nobody was there. I called the cops and alerted the neighbors, and we got a possible fingerprint and a possible description from a downstairs neighbor, who said she saw a suspicious-looking individual (middle-aged black male in a starter jacket knocking on doors) earlier in the afternoon.
You can tell pretty much how it went down. The guy got in, went to my back closet and tore it up, looking for hidden cash and valuables. All I had in there were lots of empty boxes, and in frustration he threw them around the apartment. I imagine something spooked him, and he left the place largely undisturbed, taking some things that happened to be along the way out the front.
Those things included:
- One cheap sword, which can be replaced
- One cheap dagger, which can also be replaced
- About a dozen DVDs, which can be replaced, though at some expense
- My still-new replica Japanese matchlock, which can be replaced though it will set me back a bit:
- My antique Turkish flintlock blunderbuss, which can't be replaced and thus is the one that I'm most upset about.
* Though I'm obviously bitter about the whole thing, there are a few reasons for optimism:
- The fingerprint
- The fact that if he pawned the guns, they're unique enough to be easily spotted
- He also took a credit card that I'd cancelled just two days earlier (someone had gotten hold of my # and was making long distance calls to Vancouver). I called the CC company and they confirmed that it was unsuccessfully attempted at some Shell gas station in the area. I'm hoping that some surveillance camera picked up his license plate. That would be true poetic justice if that twice-stolen CC resulted in the burglar's capture -- two wrongs making a right!
* What to do now? Board up the window from the inside and organize an armed neighborhood watch among my fellow residents. As much as I dislike having to resort to guns, I realize that a few shot burglars will be a strong deterrent to future crime.
* This happened last week. I have a second floor apartment with only the front door and a side window as possible points of entry. I got home in the evening and saw the windowscreen removed, the glass busted, and the lights on inside, and knew things were going downhill from there. After the initial shock, I rushed in (the door was slightly ajar) with weapons drawn but nobody was there. I called the cops and alerted the neighbors, and we got a possible fingerprint and a possible description from a downstairs neighbor, who said she saw a suspicious-looking individual (middle-aged black male in a starter jacket knocking on doors) earlier in the afternoon.
You can tell pretty much how it went down. The guy got in, went to my back closet and tore it up, looking for hidden cash and valuables. All I had in there were lots of empty boxes, and in frustration he threw them around the apartment. I imagine something spooked him, and he left the place largely undisturbed, taking some things that happened to be along the way out the front.
Those things included:
- One cheap sword, which can be replaced
- One cheap dagger, which can also be replaced
- About a dozen DVDs, which can be replaced, though at some expense
- My still-new replica Japanese matchlock, which can be replaced though it will set me back a bit:
- My antique Turkish flintlock blunderbuss, which can't be replaced and thus is the one that I'm most upset about.
* Though I'm obviously bitter about the whole thing, there are a few reasons for optimism:
- The fingerprint
- The fact that if he pawned the guns, they're unique enough to be easily spotted
- He also took a credit card that I'd cancelled just two days earlier (someone had gotten hold of my # and was making long distance calls to Vancouver). I called the CC company and they confirmed that it was unsuccessfully attempted at some Shell gas station in the area. I'm hoping that some surveillance camera picked up his license plate. That would be true poetic justice if that twice-stolen CC resulted in the burglar's capture -- two wrongs making a right!
* What to do now? Board up the window from the inside and organize an armed neighborhood watch among my fellow residents. As much as I dislike having to resort to guns, I realize that a few shot burglars will be a strong deterrent to future crime.
