Allegedly.
It's been an interesting week at my house, to say the least. I think I've mentioned before my less than stellar neighbors in other threads, so I won't go into too much detail about them. The house next to me is a rental (section 8 housing, no less) with a landlord that's completely indifferent to the problems this particular neighbor has brought to the neighborhood.
My new drama started unfolding last week. I was working in my garage, and it was a nice spring day. Garage door open with me at the workbench. I took a short bio-break and went trotting back out to my garage. I zipped through the door and lo' and behold if there weren't three cops standing in my garage. I startled them (because they were facing out of the garage and I burst through the door behind them) and they REALLY startled me.
I asked them if there was something I could help them with and they started asking me about my neighbors, if they were home, when I had last seen them, If they could use my backyard to look into the neighbors yard, etc. I did tell them I was armed and they didn't care.
Turns out, the 15 year old troublemaker who sometimes lives next door (a broken family, so the kid splits time between various screwed up relatives), was suspected of breaking into another house a few blocks away and had stolen two guns and an Xbox. Neat. It had just happened, in broad daylight, and they were actively looking for him throughout the area, even with dogs.
They eventually had enough guys in enough directions that they approached the neighbors home. Nobody there (or nobody answering). About an hour later, some detectives came by my house (and all our neighbors homes) and asked us to keep an eye open for the kid.
Later that night, I spotted the kid going into the house and called the cops and got to watch the whole thing unfold again, but apparently he had split and they didn't catch him. (I wasn't really pleased to hear my name and phone number on the scanner) The NEXT day he wasn't so lucky, when my neighbor spotted him. But not being aware of that, I had called to report him again the following day when I noticed the twit walking up and down the sidewalk in front of my house. The detective informed me that they "knew where he was" but they were now looking for his 17 year old friend who they suspect was an accomplice. They "were not ready to make an arrest". He asked me and my neighbor across the street (a good guy) to watch for cars, take plate numbers, etc, which we've both done.
Since then, the twit just seems obsessed with hanging out in front of my house. He walks up and down the sidewalk, and the other night I went out and he and some friends were parked across the street in front of my house. I walked out and they drove off. These were all gangbanger types. I wasn't intimidated at all, and it was my wife who first suggested, "maybe they're trying to intimidate us."
Anyway... isn't it nice to know that your 15 year old gangbanger neighbor is the prime suspect in a burglary where guns were stolen?
Every cloud has a silver lining. I was trying to convince my wife that I needed to buy a new Cannon safe just two nights before all this unfolded. She kept saying she just didn't think it was necessary. The day this all started to unfold, I asked her, "what do you think of the safe now?"... She responded with, "okay. lets get the safe."
I'm taking all the usual precautions, but am open to peoples ideas and feedback.
It's been an interesting week at my house, to say the least. I think I've mentioned before my less than stellar neighbors in other threads, so I won't go into too much detail about them. The house next to me is a rental (section 8 housing, no less) with a landlord that's completely indifferent to the problems this particular neighbor has brought to the neighborhood.
My new drama started unfolding last week. I was working in my garage, and it was a nice spring day. Garage door open with me at the workbench. I took a short bio-break and went trotting back out to my garage. I zipped through the door and lo' and behold if there weren't three cops standing in my garage. I startled them (because they were facing out of the garage and I burst through the door behind them) and they REALLY startled me.
I asked them if there was something I could help them with and they started asking me about my neighbors, if they were home, when I had last seen them, If they could use my backyard to look into the neighbors yard, etc. I did tell them I was armed and they didn't care.
Turns out, the 15 year old troublemaker who sometimes lives next door (a broken family, so the kid splits time between various screwed up relatives), was suspected of breaking into another house a few blocks away and had stolen two guns and an Xbox. Neat. It had just happened, in broad daylight, and they were actively looking for him throughout the area, even with dogs.
They eventually had enough guys in enough directions that they approached the neighbors home. Nobody there (or nobody answering). About an hour later, some detectives came by my house (and all our neighbors homes) and asked us to keep an eye open for the kid.
Later that night, I spotted the kid going into the house and called the cops and got to watch the whole thing unfold again, but apparently he had split and they didn't catch him. (I wasn't really pleased to hear my name and phone number on the scanner) The NEXT day he wasn't so lucky, when my neighbor spotted him. But not being aware of that, I had called to report him again the following day when I noticed the twit walking up and down the sidewalk in front of my house. The detective informed me that they "knew where he was" but they were now looking for his 17 year old friend who they suspect was an accomplice. They "were not ready to make an arrest". He asked me and my neighbor across the street (a good guy) to watch for cars, take plate numbers, etc, which we've both done.
Since then, the twit just seems obsessed with hanging out in front of my house. He walks up and down the sidewalk, and the other night I went out and he and some friends were parked across the street in front of my house. I walked out and they drove off. These were all gangbanger types. I wasn't intimidated at all, and it was my wife who first suggested, "maybe they're trying to intimidate us."
Anyway... isn't it nice to know that your 15 year old gangbanger neighbor is the prime suspect in a burglary where guns were stolen?
Every cloud has a silver lining. I was trying to convince my wife that I needed to buy a new Cannon safe just two nights before all this unfolded. She kept saying she just didn't think it was necessary. The day this all started to unfold, I asked her, "what do you think of the safe now?"... She responded with, "okay. lets get the safe."
I'm taking all the usual precautions, but am open to peoples ideas and feedback.