Of Grinches and the Theft of Christmas

[BentonGrey]

Howdy guys.  We arrived home last night from spending Christmas with my wife's family in Birmingham, and guess what we discovered?  First, we found one of our cats outside, shivering in the snow, and things just went downhill from there.  We found that our house had been broken into.  They ransacked the place, and apparently felt comfortable enough to kick back and watch TV, as it was still on when we entered.  It looks like they pulled the AC unit out of a window in the back of the house and climbed it that way, and left through the back door, leaving it open.  That was how our cat Flint had ended up outside.  Thankfully both of our cats are okay, but they were terrified out of their little minds last night.

The whole thing is rather surreal and strange, though.  These punks only took my wife's laptop and two cameras, while there was a TV, computers, an XBox, and Wii games, among other things, sitting around.  They completely tossed our place too, and the police officer who conducted the investigation said that the aftermath resembled a scene where burglars had been looking for something.  They took our pictures off the wall, pried up floorboards, pulled the covers off of our speakers, and emptied all of our drawers into the middle of a room.  At first we scoffed at that, but the more we looked around the more we realized that he had to be right.  Of course, there was nothing that we had which they could have been looking for, but we're beginning to suspect that we were hit by a pair of extremely dumb criminals.  I'd be willing to bet that they had the wrong house, and when they broke into our house in a quiet lower middle class neighborhood, saw the pictures of a young husband and wife, a Christmas village, and various other things that clearly mark us out as drug kingpins, these geniuses decided they must be in the right place. 

I'm mostly just annoyed.  I'm glad I've got the day off to clean up the house and put things back together.  My wife, on the other hand, is taking it pretty hard.  In my experience women tend to be hit harder by this type of thing then men.  I'm just angry, but she's shaken.  These punks pawed through all of our drawers, including her underwear drawer, her document drawer, and everything else, and that kind of violation is hard for her to take.  The good news is that the police managed to lift a few prints from the window they used to get in, and they have a few promising prospect objects that they're sending to the state crime lab to be analyzed as well.  I'm hopeful that these jerks will be caught.  I'd really like to recover my wife's camera, as it has a lot of sentimental value to her, not to mention the fact that she is a real shutterbug and will be lost without one. 

This town has been getting much, much worse crime-wise in the last two years, and this event has finally decided me.  I'm going to start jumping through all the hoops you've got to jump through in order to own a gun up here and finally bring my pistol up from Mississippi.  So, anyway folks, I just wanted to vent.  We're really lucky, all-in-all.  They only got a few things, and our house isn't permanently damaged.  I just really hope they get caught so they can be made to pay for their actions.  What kind of scum breaks into a person's house during Christmas, anyway?

[MJB]

That's just awful. Hope they catch the scum who did it & put them under the jail for a long, long time.

[BlueBard]

BG, sorry to hear about this.  Christmas is unfortunately a time of year that's ripe for burglary... people away for the holiday and brand-new stuff to make off with.  Remember 'Home Alone'?

We were out of the house more than we were in over the weekend so I was slightly worried about this kind of thing, but we don't have much worth stealing and nothing happened.

I hate to worry you, but if it was me I'd worry about what information was on that laptop.  If you do any online banking and such, there is a possibility that someone can retrieve damaging information.  Change all online passwords as soon as you can.  I suggest you put a credit watch on your credit reports, in case they took documents that you might not miss right away.

[Reepicheep]

Wow. That really sucks, Benton. Heres hoping they catch them, double-hoping you can get some of your stuff recovered.

[USAgent]

Ahh jeez Benton, I am sorry you and your family had to go through this trumatic ordeal, At first I was hoping your post was a joke, but I guess not.
Hopefully you and your wife and mentally get past this mess, I know if it happened to me there would be a pistol in my future.
Keep us informed if anything comes out of this case.  I am glad you are physically ok though.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

I'd echo Bluebard's advice as far as the laptops go, except instead of monitoring your credit, I would recommend freezing it.   That process should be free with a police report listing your missing laptop, and will render all credit information completely useless, since all attempts to open up any form of credit will be automatically refused without your express permission in advance.

However given the apparent witless nature of these criminals, I'm quite hopeful they won't be bright enough to figure out have to steal personal information and will just take the laptop.

In any case, my sympathies with your family.  I certainly hope they catch these morons.

[steamteck]

That's really aweful but at least no one was injured. If you had returned while they were still there it might have been dicey.  I remember when we had a similar situation many years my wife took it harder and I was mainly angry, so that's normal. Just be as suportive as you can ( as I already know you will) and things should begin to normalize before too long.

[Uncle Yuan]

That really sucks, BG.  I'm glad you are both safe, though.  I hope the guys get caught and that things get back to normal for you soon.

[thalaw2]

I really sympathize with you BG.  My family has been a victim of burglary more than I'd care to remember.  Do you really that that a gun in the house would have helped in this case?  They might have taken that too and then there would be another gun on the streets. 

I can't imagine how angry you are and I'm sure you want to protect your family....anyway...all I really want to say is I hope you have a safe place to put the gun if you do go down that path. 

[detourne_me]

Benton, I'm sorry man, please heed the advice here, I think it's pretty sound.

Gosh, this is just awful, at least nobody's been hurt.

[WyldFyre]

I am very sorry to hear about this Benton.  I echo the sentiments here.  I hope they can at least find your laptop.  Prayers my friend.

[Podmark]

Man that's awful Benton. Hope they catch them.

[Bloodshadow]

What is wrong with people?
Thankfully your cats are ok and you didn't arrive home at the wrong time,a bad situation could have gone much worse.Best of luck to you and your family.

[Glitch Girl]

I'm glad that the family (pets included) are okay.  Still, coming home and finding your house broken into is just awful.  I'm glad they didn't take much, but as someone already said, you may want to be careful of whatever information may have been stored on that laptop.  I hope htey catch these guys.

[oldmanwinters]

Holy cow, Benton... that is one crazy tale.  I hope the cops bust these guys and maybe recover some of your lost possessions. I'm glad everyone is okay, but I hope peace of mind can be restored to your family.

BG, sorry to hear about this.  Christmas is unfortunately a time of year that's ripe for burglary... people away for the holiday and brand-new stuff to make off with.  Remember 'Home Alone'?

The same thing immediately came to my mind... especially when talking about "really dumb criminals."

I hate to worry you, but if it was me I'd worry about what information was on that laptop.  If you do any online banking and such, there is a possibility that someone can retrieve damaging information.  Change all online passwords as soon as you can.  I suggest you put a credit watch on your credit reports, in case they took documents that you might not miss right away.

Again, this is REALLY good advice.

[kkhohoho]

My condolences in any case, though having been robbed twice myself, I can somewhat relate; but that wouldn't affect my opinions of this particular case either way. Hope everything goes alright for you and your family, and that the perpetrators get caught.

[Cyber Burn]

I'm glad you and your family weren't around when this happened. Defenitely follow Bluebard's advice:

I hate to worry you, but if it was me I'd worry about what information was on that laptop.  If you do any online banking and such, there is a possibility that someone can retrieve damaging information.  Change all online passwords as soon as you can.  I suggest you put a credit watch on your credit reports, in case they took documents that you might not miss right away.

Having been the victim of identity theft myself, I agree, protect yourself.

[captainspud]

This town has been getting much, much worse crime-wise in the last two years, and this event has finally decided me.  I'm going to start jumping through all the hoops you've got to jump through in order to own a gun up here and finally bring my pistol up from Mississippi.

What difference would that have made? You weren't home to use it.

[USAgent]

This town has been getting much, much worse crime-wise in the last two years, and this event has finally decided me.  I'm going to start jumping through all the hoops you've got to jump through in order to own a gun up here and finally bring my pistol up from Mississippi.

What difference would that have made? You weren't home to use it.

The difference would be IF it happened again and he was home, it sure would be nice to be able to protect yourself and your loved ones, especially if the town is getting much, much worse.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Yeah, I live down the street from the office of Dr. Petite, only surviving victim of the Cheshire home invasion, so I owning a gun isn't such a bad idea, if you think that would help.

[Xenolith]

Sorry to hear this Benton.  At least you are alive and okay...as are the kitties.

[Viking]

I'm glad that the most important things - the lives of you, your wife, and your cats - are all okay.  I'm really sorry for the emotional upheaval that this has caused.  I can relate to being burglarized as well, and the fact that it happens during what's supposed to be a more positive time of year makes it all the more of an emotional sucker punch.

[BentonGrey]

Hey guys, thanks so much for all of the commiserating posts, advice, well-wishes, and prayers.  Over the last week reading y'alls responses to this thread have really cheered me up.  It is just awesome to post about something like this and see the flood of positive response that y'all generate.  So, thanks for being awesome.  On the home front, we've got the house put back together.  I decided to reorganize and clean everything, trying to make something positive out of something negative.  We finished it up Friday, and the house looks great.  There wasn't really any personal info on the laptop, and we've taken steps to secure what needed securing.  The bad news is that we've got a five hundred dollar deductible on our renter's insurance policy, and it looks like our claim, if we make it, will only end up being some 650-700 bucks.  The university owned the laptop, so we won't be claiming that, and the cameras and other sundries, while too expensive for us to replace easily, just aren't expensive enough to make it easily worthwhile to make a claim.  So, we've got some hard decisions coming up.  Fortunately, we've got some Christmas money, so hopefully we can get my wife a new camera with that. 

This town has been getting much, much worse crime-wise in the last two years, and this event has finally decided me.  I'm going to start jumping through all the hoops you've got to jump through in order to own a gun up here and finally bring my pistol up from Mississippi.

What difference would that have made? You weren't home to use it.

The difference would be IF it happened again and he was home, it sure would be nice to be able to protect yourself and your loved ones, especially if the town is getting much, much worse.

Precisely.  Having a gun wouldn't have helped in this instance, but I'm getting more wary of our town.  My wife and I would certainly feel safer if we were able to defend ourselves. 

Anyway, thanks again guys.  It was just immensely comforting to read this thread.

[Cyber Burn]

Just be safe with the gun, because you never know what could happen.

Spoiler

A few years before my Great-Grandfather passed away, I went over to his place to check on him because he wasn't answering the phone, long story short, I found myself with one pointed at me. Fortunately, he was sober at the time, probably saved my life.

[Reepicheep]

I'm in the 'against' group in getting a gun here.



Get a tank.

[Amazo Version 2.2]

I'm in the 'against' group in getting a gun here.



Get a tank.

not living in the best area either, i would go for the tank too.

but seriously, you may want to invest in an alarm system.