I Was Robbed!

My home was broken into this weekend. I've had a car stereo stolen from my car in my high school parking lot, but I've never lived somewhere that received that blessing of vulnerability called "breaking and entering".

I went hiking Friday morning to Angel's Rest in the Gorge. It was a beautiful day, albeit a bit windy, but the novelty of almost being blown off the top of the peak was well worth it. I was able to lean into the wind about 30 degrees... never have I felt wind that strong. It was amazing.

I returned home to find my garage open and lights on. The thought that I had accidentally left it open was washed away when I saw that the door from the garage to the basement was ajar. Heading upstairs, I shouted out to the burglar's ghost in case it was planning a haunting. When I saw the broken window and the conservative newspaper used to clear the glass, I knew for sure that I had been victimized.

It was easy to retrace his steps (I'll use the masculine 'he' because of the stupidity and recklessness involved, and because of the size of shoes that were stolen). Shattering the bottom pane of the glass in my back door, I bet he thought he would be able to reach in and turn the lock. Little did he know I had replaced the locks two months prior with double-walled deadbolts, forcing him to clear all the glass away and crawl through the window. He scanned the closets for a backpack, and finding one, proceeded to fill it with some choice items. He rooted through my dresser, perhaps looking for some hidden stash of jewelry or cash (luckily I'm broke and I had just given all my diamonds, pearls, and rubies to my supermodel/rock star girlfriend). He rooted through my bedroom closet, and pulled most of my shoes out. He snatched one pair of LL Bean moccassins and a hoodie, grabbed my jar of change and left for the office (2nd bedroom).

In there, it was clear he was looking for some provocative identity theft fodder. He opened all the drawers of my metal filing cabinet, which is mostly storage for various electronic parts and cables, completely ignoring the smaller wooden filing cabinet that contains all the goodies. If there is one thing worth stealing for size and value, it's a laptop, and he did take my Macbook and power supply. He looked through my entertainment center, no doubt disappointed to find an 8-bit Nintendo and classic games, turned and grabbed 20 or so CDs at random from my CD shelves.

Now trapped inside due to the double walled locks, he had to find a way out, but not before snagging a short, black, Partagas cigar I had bought for the weekend. He went downstairs through the basement, out into the garage, hopped on my bike and rode off.

It could have been a lot worse. The items he took are all replacable (save most of the CDs, which are rare), and I have receipts and serial numbers for the laptop and bike. He didn't take any clothes that I hold dear, and passed up/tossed around so many things that I'm thankful to still have. He did make some interesting choices... taking $10 in change instead of the iPod that was right next to it. Rooting through the filing cabinet and taking nothing while ignoring my passport and checkbook sitting beside my desk, nearly in plain view. He even dropped a cigarette butt (covered with DNA) between the inner and outer doors, which could nail him directly.

The police were thorough and responded quickly, lecturing me about identity theft and asking me distinct details about the stolen items... at one point I was trying to name all the CDs that were taken, at another point I was describing the dozen stickers on the laptop. The ID specialist showed up after another hour to get fingerprints, but the thief was wearing gloves, typical for cold weather and glass handling type jobs like this one.



The worst part was waiting for the cops to show up (twice) and not being able to touch or move anything. All you want to do is get things back to normal and you can't, you can't go anywhere and you can't touch anything, you just have to dwell at the scene of the crime, questioning everything in your mind, running through the potential scenarios.

I'm grateful for what I did not lose. I am insured, and I've received lots of love and support from my friends and family. That's one of the great things about having a social presence online: news travels fast and effortlessly. The people who care and matter find and support you when they know it's needed, and it helps squash the feeling of loneliness tremendously, particularly while being chilled by the new draft of cold wind in your home, surrounded by broken glass.

Thanks.