Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Burglary Saga

Most days, my husband telephones my office at 5 p.m. to say he's gotten home. Tonight I left work a little earlier than usual, at 5:15 p.m., and when I arrived home around 6 p.m., his van wasn't in the driveway. Hummm, I thought, that's odd. Then I remembered he hadn't called me at work.

I gathered up my stuff and got out of the car. I saw then that although the screen door was shut, and front door was open--not too unusual since it was a nice, spring day. I wondered whether my husband had car problems and had someone drop him off at home, or if perhaps our son had borrowed the van. Not thinking too much about it, I went into the kitchen and unloaded my stuff. I poked my head into the garage to see if my husband was there, but he wasn't. I glanced through the sliding glass door onto the patio, but I could hear our dog barking in his run, and I knew if my husband was out back, the dog would be running loose. Ah ha!, I thought--he must be in the bathroom!

Making my way to the back of the house, I saw that the doors of a couple cupboards in my daughter's former room were ajar. I went in and closed them, thinking my husband must have been looking for something. But when I turned toward our bedroom and saw stuff pulled out of all the drawers and strewn all over the floor and the bed, I finally realized what had happened.

About then, I decided maybe I shouldn't be in the house, just in case anyone was still here--although that seemed unlikely. Within about a minute of getting back outside, I saw my husband driving down the street. He had been to the dentist and thought he had mentioned it to me last night, but if he did, I sure don't remember! I told him what I had found and then I went around to the back yard to let the dog out of his run--in case there was still anyone here, Marley could lick him to death, ferocious beast that he is!

Anyway, we called the police after that and tried not to touch much while we waited for them to arrive. We don't keep much of value in the house, but I DID have a $100 bill in one of the drawers in the bedroom--a bit of "bonus" money our mechanic friend had given us when he was able to fix up and sell a car my husband had found for him. I have very little jewelry, but what I have wasn't taken--my wedding band was in an unlikely drawer that I don't think they even searched.

We were actually somewhat surprised at what WASN'T taken. My digital camera was sitting on the desk and that was left. A credit card by the computer was left. None of our TVs, DVDs, stereo equipment, etc., seems to have been touched. In fact, they really seemed to be looking for cash, and if they were hoping for fine jewelry, they didn't find it here! My husband has a prescription for Vicodin and that wasn't taken, so they weren't interested in drugs either. And, of course, they obviously had no appreciation for quilts, fabric, or sewing machines! Obviously uncultured, ignorant types! ROFLOL!

All in all, we were pretty lucky. Oh, and here's what ELSE they left--stuff that wasn't here to begin with: a screw driver/pry tool and a pair of dirty socks. Yuck!

After taking the report, the police left, saying the CSI guy would be by this evening. Sure enough, Mr. CSI Guy showed up about a half hour later, toting his little kit of crime detecting goodies, and snapping on his latex gloves--just like on TV! Since CSI--the TV show--was a rerun tonight, we were entertained by the reality version! This is the window the burglars came in through:


See all that nice black powder? I kind of think there were two burglars; the smaller of the two came in the window and unlocked the door for the larger of the two. Anyway, for all his efforts, Mr. CSI Guy didn't find any prints. We suspected and he confirmed that the burglars probably used those dirty socks to cover their hands while they went through our stuff. I asked him why they would have left their socks and tool here, and he said that's pretty common because then they can't be arrested with "burglary tools" on their persons. Interesting the stuff you learn!

So now I have a mess to clean up and a bunch of things to put away. I guess I'd better get to it! And I still have a few things to check to make sure nothing's missing, but really it doesn't look like it is. But, darn it, I've missed another night of quilting! And that's really the biggest loss!

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are so right! A quilter would have known to snatch that jelly roll of Mary E. fabric!!! I am so sorry you had to go through that.
--julia

Tazzie said...

Gosh Kim, what a horrible thing for you to go through. I'm really glad that nothing of importance was taken, but most especially glad that you didn't disturb them. Thank heavens you're both safe.
*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)

Ginger Patches said...

Wow! How scary, I'm glad they didn't take much and really glad they left your quilting supplies alone!

Sew Create It - Jane said...

All that different coloured fabric must have dazed them! (there's another good reason to collect fabric!! - security feature!)
In all seriousness, I'm glad they were long gone when you got home and that the mess wasn't as atrocious as it could have been.

PiecefulChaos said...

Guess you had choosy burglars! At least they didn't seem to have taken anything that can't be replaced. Very surprising they didn't take the Vicodin - I would think that would be easier for them to sell than jewelry!

Unknown said...

sounds.like a couple of kids. Money! The found a gold mine with that big bill. ow if there had been a laptop I bet that would have been taken.

Strange that the neighbors wouldn't have seen something. Checking the credit thing is smart.This really takes away from your big giveaway. Congradulations to the winner.

Karen said...

WOWZERS - I'm thankful that you didn't surprise them in your house when you got home. So sorry that you had to have that happen and thankful that they didn't get much.'

Hugs - Karen

sheep#100 said...

What about picking up DNA traces from inside the socks? Skin sloughs off regularly...

Nancy said...

The same thing happened to us about 20 years ago. We weren't as lucky, they stole all my jewelry and lots of my DH collectibles. They also left the fridge door open after pulling everything out and making a mess in the kitchen. Our poor puppy had been locked in the laundry room and he almost clawed through the door trying to get to them....
Police knew it was a bunch of kids, but couldn't recover anything. They were never charged.
I am so sad for you, it is a scary thing and I am glad they didn't take much....

Unknown said...

Glad you're safe and not hurt.

Julia said...

So glad that you and your hubby are safe. How scary!!! Did they break the window? How did they get in so easily? They need their butts kicked, the little snots!!!

Darlene said...

I'm glad to hear that they didn't trash your home!

I'll never understand why some feel they can just take from others. grrrr!

Anonymous said...

Oh my god!!! I am reading about your break in and just looked down and realized that I won your give away for your blog a versary!!!!

I am sooooo sorry to hear you were broken in to...
here is my e-mail.. send me a note and i will send you my address.
Pam A fr NY
pam1228@aol.com

Maddie Can Fly said...

I walked in on my robbers last year. They ran. Good thing they did as I found out they had yanked all my quilts down on the floor (even the antique ones -- gasp!) and were loading up the quilts with my goodies. If they'd taken my quilts I'd have had to hunt them down and strangle them. As it is they made off with my cash and a few junk items.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, thank goodness it wasn't a quilter that broke into your house! LOL In all seriousness, scary! I'm just glad they were gone when you got home, and that nothing major was taken. You're right, they must have been looking for money. Probably just a couple of dumb kids.

Rhonda said...

Oh my, how scary! So sorry to hear of your ordeal. I'm glad that they didn't take any of your quilting things.

SuBee said...

Thank God you are both OK - now we're going to take up a collection and get you a warning sign for your windows - "BURGULARS WILL BE STITCHED IN THE DITCH"

Carol said...

Kim I'm so glad you all are fine...that is so darn scary. You all take care.

dot said...

I am sporry to read about this. I can still remember when I came home after someone broke into our home, that was way back in the 80's. You feel so violated. We now have an alarm system, not that it keeps them from breaking in but hopefully from causing damage and maybe getting caught.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, how scary! I am glad you are okay, Kim, and that they didn't get away with too much.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, how scary! I am glad you are okay, Kim, and that they didn't get away with too much.

Sherry said...

Wow Kim, so sorry this happened to you. Like others have said, I'm just glad they were gone when you got home. Probably just some kids looking for cash.

Cowguy said...

Sorry this happened to you and your husband... real violated feeling knowing someone has been through your stuff. Fortunate for you that they were gone when you came home.

J.

DPUTiger said...

Oh man, that sucks!!! Sorry I missed your blogiversary contest. After three weeks on the road for work, I'm just catching up on my blog reading. I can't imagine a burglary here (touch wood). It's the house I grew up in and in the 37 years my family has been here, there has only been one break-in in the neighborhood.

Most importantly, I'm glad you're safe! And yeah ... they'd have no clue how much the crafty stuff is worth! :)

quiltmom anna said...

Hi Kim,
Sorry that you had to go through such an ordeal- one can sure live without such an experience- I hope the weekend brings you some really nice things to offset this unfortunate experience. I am glad to hear that no one was hurt and the things that you consider valuable were not damaged.
Regards,
Anna

Vicky said...

This just plain sucks. The most important thing is that y'all weren't home and are okay. Sounds like kids to me, too. I used to stick extra cash in my stash. You've seen pictures of it. No way would anyone have gone looking for it there! LOL

Mama Spark said...

What a scary thing to have been through! I am so glad neither your nor your husband were harmed (or the dog). It is just kind of creepy that someone went pawing through your stuff when you weren't there. We have had our car broken into on numerous occasions and stuff taken. I leave very little in there anymore. Just a few CD's. I hope you recover and have a chance to get sewing again soon.

Nan said...

Thank God they weren't still there when you got home! What a horrible thing to have happened, but I'm glad they didn't take anything of value, especially all your quilting and crafty stuff! They won't be back again, will they? The feeling of being violated is the worst, I think. Take care, Kim!

Red Geranium Cottage said...

Kim, I'm so sorry that you were broken into. How awful. That is one thing that I hope never happens to me. Glad you guys are ok and they didn't take much.

Happy Zombie said...

How awful Kim - I feel for you! So, so violating.

A few years ago, my dh's truck got broken into. In his truck was some pain medication and even an old expired visa (he got grief from me for that one). They didn't touch it. Not even his cigarettes they took. They did take his gym bag (eww) and a few of his construction tools (not that pricey either), and made a mess and damage as well. It was more bizarre then anything. Violating, but bizarre.