July 12, 1997

A Break-In

Tino's car was broken into on Friday night. If we'd left for the camping trip after work, that never would have happenned, but I was (probably we were, but he likes to blame me for lethargy) totally unmotivated to pack on Thursday night and leave the house for the weekend on Friday morning. This requires much running around, most of it in the morning, and this tends to lead to important things being left behind.

So, anyway, the Miata was attacked, apparently for nothing. Based on the damage to the weather stipping and the spray of glass all over the place, I'd say they broke in with a crowbar. The center compartment was jimmied, as was the glove box. They took a crack at the radio (a stock, cheapo at that), but only succeeded in breaking part of the console and not getting it out.

The police came, and one of the officers gave Tino hell about not having a front plate on his car. We didn't appreciate that. The other one was quite nice. In addition, the plate guy had also asked for Tino's license, which is expired at the moment. Luckily, he dodged that and just handed him the registration. They sent a Crime Scene Unit to lift prints off the car. Who knows what will happen with that, but it gave us some satisfaction.

More Neighboors

Our neighboors two doors down saw all the cop cars and and out of the alley and came to investigate. We had a bit of a chat with them and discuss the other neighboors with whom we've had so much trouble. It turns out that he's a housing lawyer and a specialist in landlord/tenant law, and he feels that those people could be considered a nuisance and that he could force their landlord to evict them on that basis. He and his wife have lived in that house for 12 years, and they say that all the problems we've all been having came in with those people, and while he thinks it's a shame, he claims that the Virginians on the other side of the bad neighboors bailed out of their lease because of them, and I know that we'll never renew as long as they are there. They are really upset about this, but not too upset to drag everyone into court. If I owned there instead of renting, you can bet I'd be more involved.

They had all kinds of stories about things that David and the kids have done. They generally involve theft, vandalism or tresspassing. Some of these came from the owners on the other side (formally the Virginians, now empty, the owners are from Jersey) and things they've witnessed. Most of the time, these people have been caught red-handed. We've caught them messing around in our yard before or after things turn up missing. The police claim that they stole our bicycles, and the people two-doors down caught the kids looting the shed on the vacant property on the other side of their house. This isn't all there is, but it's all I'm going to say for the moment.

We went camping anyway, but not to False Cape. There's a trip report at Laurel Fork Wilderness Area.