Friday was a welcomed relief after a long week. Naturally we stayed up late and retired to bed around 12:30am. I awoke at 1:30am to the normal howling of neighborhood dogs, thinking nothing of it. But at around 2:20am, Jeremy and I were startled into consciousness at the sound of a car alarm...my car alarm!
It took a while to figure out what was going on, and even longer to locate my keys to turn off the alarm. By then I realized that the only way I could be hearing that repetitively loud clamor was because someone tried (or did) get into my car. I wanted to run out the front door of our house and confront the blasted thief. Luckily Jeremy talked some sense into me and we decided to open the garage door, attempting to:
1) scare the robber,
2) possibly catch the robber,
and/or
3) shed some literal light on the situation.
Keeping in mind that my back right door rarely locked properly (because of past child passengers that played around with the lock), I figured the crook saw an unlocked door and tried to get in. But to my horror, the view from the garage door was not what was expected.
My driver-side door was wide open and no one was in sight!
It had taken so long for us to get our bearings that, of course, the bandit had made out into the night, scared away by the roaring of my little car. What would anyone want with my silly car anyway? Turns out Honda Civics are very popular cars to steal!
Anyway, I called 911 on my cell in a pathetically shaky voice and reported the incident. The Clovis Police were there in about 3 minutes (we timed it while looking out from our "safe spot," AKA the bathroom window). A nice officer knocked on our door and told us yet another unexpected development:
The driver-side window was shattered and broken!
Definitely a large detail that was overlooked at our first garage gander! We walked out with the officer (glad he had a gun), assessed the damage (nothing was stolen...the alarm scared him/her off when the door was opened, whew!), and told him our story (by the way, we got dressed into regular clothes within those 3 minutes). He took down our information, dusted for prints, and gave us our claim number (no, we don't have comprehensive car insurance). He also said that another car break-in was in progress down the street. What the heck!? My first thought is, "We're MOVING!!!" The second? "Go catch the flippin felon!"
We went back into our house after the officer promised to patrol the area closely for a few days. It was around 3:10am and I was still full of adrenaline and anxiety. There was no way I could go back to bed! My sense of security had be robbed! Even after saying a prayer, I was up for the night.
Jeremy said he'd fall asleep next to me on the couch while I watched TV. Around 5:30am we got back into bed and I was finally out of it. I didn't/couldn't get up until around 10am, and I discovered that my amazingly wonderful husband got up early to clear out all the glass inside and around my car. Of course, he took pictures of the damage first!
We called around for repair estimates and got a great deal. The rest of our Saturday was packed with other commitments, but we still got me a new window! Boy were we tired, though. And to make matters worse, Sunday night was scary too. The Fresno Police Department Helicopter was circling our neighborhood and shining a bright light around our area. Again, what the heck?! "We're moving!" A loudspeaker came on and announced, "This is the Fresno Police Department. Come out now. This is your last chance. We will find you." Or something like that...
I wanted to go outside to see the helicopter and determine how close it really was to our house. Wait, is that a stupid idea? Kinda like wanting to run out and catch the car thief? What I really wonder is, why do I have the sudden impulses to run outside and see what's going on? If Jeremy wasn't there to knock some sense into me, I might have run out into two dangerous situations!
Here are some pictures for an even more dramatic effect:
No, we didn't leave the door open all night.
The glass was everywhere!
Jeremy parked his car behind mine so no one could try to hotwire the car and drive off with it (our garage is still a little un-car-park-able)
Fingerprint dusting
Lots of glass
There's still glass stuck in my seat belt so I have to buckle it into the passenger side!What have we learned from this? Always lock our cars, never keep anything valuable or seemingly valuable in the car, install a motion sensor light over the garage, and keep our outside lights on.
Is it okay that I feel totally unsafe and paranoid in my own house? I quote my husband: "It's a new experience for you and sometimes me. It's a valid feeling to have. It will be good to look back on."
Ha! We'll see....
7 comments:
Be thankful that nothing was stolen. I remember when our van was stolen once when I'd been up with flu baby all night. Cops called at 9 and asked if I knew where my car was...I THOUGHT it was in the driveway. At that point all I cared about was the recovery of the car seats! Motion sensor lights are a WONDERFUL thing, as are LOUD car alarms. Prayers work wonder for peace.
Oh Jae!! How scary! It's a good thing you have such a smart husband! You're going to get yourself killed silly lady! Thank heaven nothing was taken!! And thank heaven for a good deal on a new window! Love you to itty bitty pieces!!
I'm so sorry you guys! Getting your car broken into is such an awful experience. You're right - you do feel insecure and totally vulnerable. That's happened to us several times. They always come after Jeremy's stereo. It really is the pits. Especially because it's expensive to replace whatever's been stolen. Take some comfort in the fact that whoever is breaking into your car just wants your stuff. They're not there to hurt you and they're big wimps - obviously, because they run away when they think they'll get caught. Glad you, Jeremy and your car are safe.
Wow thats scary! There are only a few things that make me say I am glad to live in Rexburg and I guess relative safety is one of them. I was talking to Jennifer Mason(Gorham Baker), I don't know if you remember her but anyway her car and her husbands got broken into in their underground parking garage and then they moved to a house and someone broke into their house like 3 weeks ago! She wants to move too which is understandable. Lucky it was just your car and that nothing was stolen. Hope its not too expensive to fix. Anyway, I think Im done now.
Winnie the pooh actually,haha, Maybe the bear didn't measure up. They live in phoenix.
It's those darn Honda's! I had a civic just like yours and it was stolen. I went out to go to work and it wasn't where I parked it. I went back into our apartment asked Preston if he moved my car, he said NO and then I realized...my car was stolen.
I found your blog from Cody Givens blog. Our blog is private but if you want to look at it, email me at schwendimans at gmail dot com
I'm so sorry! I know that feeling. I've had my car broken into and window busted and hubcaps stolen... been there. It's a terrible feeling, but he lights on all night and motion sensor is a great idea. Hope and pray for safety and that doesn't happen again! We love you!
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