Thursday, March 20, 2008

Rude Awakening

This morning at 5 am there was loud knocking at the door and the dog was barking. I woke Dan up and he heard the really loud knocking again. He went to the door and it was the police! Nothing gets your heart racing like waking up to the police at your front door. The officer said our neighbor had called because our garage door was open and he wanted Dan to look and see if anything was missing.

It was. About $4500 worth of equipment was stolen while we slept! And our dogs, who bark like crazy anytime anyone comes to the door, didn't make a peep. They stole three of our bikes, worth more than $3000, our new bike trailer to tow the kids that we used once, my snowboard and boots which I used for the first time yesterday, and Dan's snowboard and boots. At first we thought we left the garage open after we unloaded our snowboards yesterday, but then we remembered Dan took the trashcans to the street right before bed and he would have noticed it was open. They got in by breaking the glass on our garage door, and then reaching in to grab the release and rolled up the door. That is pretty bold! And they must have been prepared because three bikes, the trailer, and two snowboards would take up a lot of room and required multiple people or lots of trips. Someone is coming later today to check for prints on the door, but I can't imagine you wouldn't wear gloves if you're going to stick your hand through a broken window. The best we can figure is it happened sometime between about 12:30 when we went to bed and 3:30 when our neighbor first noticed the garage was open (no idea what he was doing awake at 3:30, but we appreciate his diligence in looking out for the neighborhood).

As much as it sucks to have our things stolen, it's just stuff. What really bothers me is the feeling that we are not safe. We are lucky that we were only dealing with thieves, because it would have been so easy for them to walk through the door to the house and come inside where my babies were sleeping. That is scary. And of course, they broke in through the only door on our entire house that is not alarmed! So I'm going to call the alarm company today and see if we can put a sensor on the garage door. I also want to get a deadbolt for the door from the garage to the house. And we have to replace the glass on the exterior door so they can't just come back again tonight for more stuff. Luckily the car was untouched, but it was unlocked so I'll make it a habit of locking the car even when it's in the garage.

Anyway, this morning I'm thanking God that we are all safe and everything that was stolen is replaceable.

You can see the broken glass and the release that they used to open the door

Our empty wall of fun: trailer hung from the hook on the far left, bikes from the three hooks in the middle, and snowboards on the sets of hooks on the right.

Us and our bikes in happier times

11 comments:

Valerie said...

I am so glad your family is fine. How absolutely scary!!!!!!

DeAnna said...

Andrea that is awful! I am so sorry!

The Portas said...

Oh my gosh, your "Us and our bikes in happier times" caption made me crack up! I'm so sorry your garage was broken into. That has to be a very violating feeling! Thank God you are all safe!!

Thanks for checking in on Elijah and leaving such sweet comments on his blog. We will definitely keep you guys in our prayers as well, as you approach a surgery, too!

Jessica said...

That is scary. Really scary.
Especially since, like you said, they must have been ready to haul that stuff away so they knew exactly what they were getting from your house...meaning, they've been, you know, watching your place.
Very scary.
I'm glad everyone is OK.

PS you never know about the dumb things thieves do. My mom's house was broken into when we were in Big Bear one weekend and the dumb thief actually cut himself breaking the glass to get inside, then used a towel from our kitchen to stop his bleeding, then LEFT the towel! Ultimately, the blood match was what got the gang convicted of a string of neighborhood burglaries. Booyah!

Katie Scott said...

How scary!! I am so thankful that you guys are safe, though!

Anne Marie said...

Urgggg! How absolutely violating and frightening! I can't tolerate the type of lazy people who can't work to make a living and instead have to steal from hard working people like yourselves to get what they want. I hope these guys get caught and they find they've got a criminal past and they just get them out of our society. Sorry- situations like yours get me SO ANGRY! I'm soooo glad they did not enter your house and come close to you and your kids, but still really mad that you guys have been victimized like this. Once again, urggggg.

Shannon said...

How awful. I am glad you are able to put this in perspective but I can imagine how the sense of people being 'in' the house is very disturbing.

Its amazing that none of you (or the dogs) heard them. They must have been very sneaky.

What a roller coaster after the happy post yesterday.

Amy, Steve, Molly, Paige and Garrett said...

Oh man Andrea. That's HORRIBLE! I know how that feels. Our house got broken in to right after we moved in. It was the middle of the day and we were out doing some shopping. When we got home every door and cupboard in the house was open and they had rifled through everything, taking what they wanted. It's an absolutely awful feeling and you feel completely violated. Almost makes you wish your dogs had been able to rip them apart. I'll pray that you get good sleep tonight, because I know that might be difficult!

Lexi and Linzi said...

Andrea this is devestating. Good outlook that it's just stuff...but still violation is never a good feeling! Glad to hear you are all safe!

Gina and the Gang said...

I'm so sorry to hear your story. It's been happening a lot lately. We are getting an alarm system put in tomorrow! Seriously. I'm glad you are all safe.

Kathy said...

Andrea...
That just stinks!
Your caption under the bikes as cute...you'll get new (better) bikes...and the happy times will ROLL again!!!
I didn't get a chance to call you yesterday...but, I will next week (thanks for your numbers)...I didn't put on my blog..but, my sister kept me TOO busy and sucks the life out of me! (I'll tell you all about it!)
You know...we had to put a big fat security camera last year...just to deter the vandals. It's a sad world we live in sometimes! (I wish everyone watch "My name is Earl"...and thought about karma!