There are some valuable lessons from all sides in this story.
Tuesday (8/17) evening around 8-8:10 pm I was letting my boxer out in the back yard to do her business. I have trained her not to leave the yard so I was comfortable walking back into the house to brush my teeth.I looked out the window and noticed she was staring at the neighbors fenced in back yard. I didn't think anything of it because we have rabbits and other small animals that catch her attention from time to time.
I went back to the door to encourage her to hurry up and notice a male figure by a tree in the neighbors yard. It was dusk and he was about 50 yards away so I didn't see him real well. The only thing I noticed was he was wearing dark clothing. His build was slim just like the 19 year old kid that lives there so I assumed it was him. He spends time out there when it's warm, that and the fact that the person standing there didn't react when I glanced his way didn't send up any red flags. My girl finished her business and came into the house and everything continued as normal.
Wed. my wife came home and found a note asking her to contact the mother of the kid who lives next door. The wife called the mother and she stated that when her son came home from work that he noticed the back door of his house was hanging open. He wouldn't go in because he had a bunch of guns in the house, most of which were in the safe but 3 were loaded and stashed aorund the house in different hiding places.
He called the police around 10:30 and informed them that he thought there was someone in his house and told them about his loaded guns. Being too young to get a CC permit, he was unarmed and wasn't comfortable going into the house and taking a chance of looking down the barrel of one of his own guns. It seems there was a homicide that happened on the south side of town right before he came home and the police were looking for the suspect. There were helicopters in the distance that could be heard at times as well as cruisers patrolling the area of the shooting. As a result it took the police an hour to get to his house which is 5 minutes from the station.
The thieves took their time. They unbolted his big screen TV from the wall, cleaned all the ammo out of his gun cabinet and even carried off his safe which was not bolted down. Something spooked the thieves (possibly me seeing one of them) and they must have left in a hurry because they had left items on the floor that they had piled up to carry off. All in all he figures he's out about 8-10 grand. He had an old shotgun that belonged to his grandfather that he claims was worth 2 grand by itself.
I'm constantly telling my wife to be alert of her surroundings, especially since she won't get her CC permit and her only defense is being alert and a can of pepper spray that she carries. She found it slightly amusing that I had been such a poor witness. I couldn't tell if the person was black or white, what he was wearing or if there were any tats or other marks that could help identify the person I saw.
I learned a valuable lesson this week. I can't take anything for granted. Even though I was armed and would have been alert enough had this person been in my yard, I wasn't alert to the possibility that he was intent on doing my neighbor harm. I need to be more alert to the possible dangers that can affect, not only me or mine, but also to those around me.
After talking to the kid myself it seems as if this was done by someone who knows him. The thieves new exactly where his security cameras were. They came up behind them and pushed them up so they could move around freely without being taped. They also found all 3 of his guns that were hidden around the house. The guy is going through a divorce and custody battle and It seems to me like the ex may have been involved or at least talking freely about his security arrangements.
He had made a comment that he should have gotten a bigger safe. I informed him that it wouldn't matter if he didn't take the time to bolt it in. Thieves that have that kind of info on his security would have brought an appliance cart for a heavier safe. The real kicker is, he only had the serial #s to the 2 guns he purchased new. All the others (around 10 more) had been from private individuals and he never took the time to record the serial #'s and put them in a safe place.
MBTV
Forum Index
Help
Calendar
Contact Info
Register as a member
