Thursday, March 19, 2009

We’ve Been Robbed…

According to the Associated Press style guide, the proper term is “burgled”. The according to Hoyle difference is as follows:

Robbery is the taking or attempting to take something of value from another person by use of force, threats or intimidation. And Burglary is the unlawful entry of a ‘structure’ to commit a felony or a theft. Burglary is commonly known as a "break in," or, "breaking and entering." A ‘structure’ is usually in reference to physical buildings but not cars. Car break-ins or thefts are considered larcenies.

So, by definition, we were burgled.

Last Monday afternoon, a sneak-thief – or more likely thieves – broke into our house and stripped it of nearly everything electronic. Most definitely every piece of valuable electronica.

To add insult to injury, they thrashed the house, emptying every drawer, disturbing every piece of furniture in their larcenous lust for loot.

I was finishing up a five-day business trip to Oregon when PPie called me frantically, crying that we had been robbed, everything taken.

I grabbed my bags and headed for the airport, in hopes of catching an early flight home. Instead, I got to sit in the terminal an extra four hours. Yea.

In my absence, the cops came, took photos, asked questions, and before leaving, said the CSI would be by to take prints. PPie went to stay at her sister’s house with the kids and to wait for me.

My flight arrived at nearly midnight and I headed to our violated home, in hopes of making some sense of it, or at least putting out of my mind the idea that it was just some terrible dream or a horrible joke.

The house looked like a tornado had hit it. Rather than answering any questions, it simply opened up a whole new crop of them – why make a jelly sandwich, only to smear it on the carpet in the bedroom? Why take video games and not the DVDs? Why steal $100 in Jorja's birthday/Xmas money piggy bank, but not the $75 in silver change on my dresser? Why drink two beers, but leave two others?

Why, why, why????

I am not the type of person to say, “Well, I hope they can make use of it.” Or, “If they’d just asked, I would have helped them out.” Colorado has a “Make My Day” law; had I caught them in the act, I would have exercised that right.

As it stands, this is probably one of those crimes where the criminals are not caught, at least not for this crime. But, if there is one iota of justice they will go to jail for a crime they did not commit.

Finally, here is the partial list of missing items wrap up, SportsCenter-style:

Our 46” HiDef, flat panel TV? Gone

My XBOX360 and 20+ games? No longer in the house.

The Wii? Departed along with a half-a-dozen games.

Not one or two laptops, but all THREE laptops are history.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I don’t doubt that three months from now I’m going to look for a specific doohickey and realize that I haven’t seen it since the EVENT.

For now, we have cleaned up and are back in the house, sans-electronica. We’ve made a claim to our homeowner’s insurance and I’m sure that is going to be another battle.

11 Comments:

Blogger Misa Gracie said...

holy cow - I understand how you're feeling, I've been there. Thank goodness that you and your beautiful family are safe. The lingering feelings of violation, the jumping at little noises, will dissipate - over time. You'll get back the technology you lost through insurance claims and hopefully identify how they got in and be able to further secure your home.

Good luck to you!

3/20/2009 7:22 AM  
Blogger geenalyn said...

I am soooo sorry, what a horrible thing to happen.

3/20/2009 8:05 AM  
Blogger Karen said...

So sorry. I happened to me on Christmas Eve morning about 7 years ago. I was home sleeping upstairs and didn't hear a thing.

They left my tv, but pretty much everything else was gone. Including bags of wrapped presents I had ready to go to my parents for Christmas.

And to add insult to injury, they loaded up MY stuff into MY car and took that too!

It was months and months later and I was realizing stuff I was missing. And I didn't feel comfortable in my home for a long, long time.

3/20/2009 9:13 AM  
Blogger Liz Jimenez said...

Oh no, oh no! Awful to lose all of those belongings, not to mention the sense of your space being violated. How terrible, I'm so sorry. I hope the insurance comes through, and I hope the "bad guys" are stupid enough to get caught.

3/20/2009 11:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've read your blog for a while but never commented. Just wanted to say this hit home to me. Our house was robbed 3.5 years ago and you don't ever really forget it. I still hate the people that invaded my sanctuary. Don't really care that they took my stuff. I just hate that they were in my home. If it's any consolation, our insurance paid promptly and they were very easy to deal with. Sorry to hear about the news and hope they catch them!

3/20/2009 11:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh I am so sorry. As if you guys don't have enough to deal with this time of year. Can't even imagine the feeling of violation that comes with that sort of thing. But I am with you, let them pay for that crime or someone else's. As long as they get theirs. Good luck with the insurance company.

3/20/2009 12:35 PM  
Blogger Otter Thomas said...

That is terrible. I am glad everyone is ok. People are really crappy. They will steal anything. It makes me sick.

3/20/2009 1:06 PM  
Blogger Darren said...

I know it's been months since I've commented, but I'm still reading. Sorry to hear about this. Don't give up hope that they'll find the burglars. With all they touched, they might have left good prints. It also sounds like they were comfortable enough to take their time which seems kind of weird.

3/24/2009 6:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just was thinking,,,you'd best put an alert on your credit. If you have a police report number I think it's free. As long as they spent in your house they could have all you personal information!!! Talk about adding insult to injury!
Golly

3/24/2009 7:54 AM  
Blogger Poetry Echoes said...

Wow, it didn't even happen to me, and it still makes me angry. What is with people that their consciences, or lack thereof, are so numb that they can go and do something like that and still sleep at night? Who do they think they are?! I do hope they will get what they deserve and what goes around usually comes around, but usually not fast enough.

3/24/2009 9:11 AM  
Blogger Stacy said...

Wow - I'm so sorry about your loss and the violation of your home. I hope you get things straightened out with the insurance quickly.

3/30/2009 10:28 PM  

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