Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Just one of those inevitable things really.
At three a.m. this morning, I was awakened by lights, voices, and pounding on my door. I was halfway to the door before I was really awake and realized that I had to put some clothes on. I threw on a pair of shorts and headed back to the door and the loud knocking. I think at some point between there and lying in bed I heard the words "police, open up!". I'm a heavy sleeper and a knock at my door is one of those things that sometimes blends into a dream.
I glanced out the window and saw police cars in the parking lot. Lots of them. I opened the door in a pair of shorts, no shirt, and no shoes to find a female officer asking me "is that your car?". I managed to get out an "uh-huh" and followed her outside. There were SEVEN police cars parked in one tight group facing my car and the 3 neighbors' cars. The driver's side door and the hatchback (Geo Storm) were open and I halfway started to realize what was going on but I was still trying to grasp how many cops were standing there.
I had forgotten to roll up the car's window and lock it up for the night.
The upper part of the center console where the cd player was had been ripped away. And the high-dollar subwoofers, box, and amp that once were in the back were gone. I had two JL Audio 12" subwoofers in a very high-quality box. Mounted to the box was an Alpine V12 amp. No idea how many watts, but it powered the two 6 1/2" Jensens in the doors and the two 4" Pioneers in the back hatch as well as the two subwoofers. I don't know how much the 12's cost, but I priced the amp on the internet at close to $500. I bought the subs, amp, and box from a friend for $250 - he owed me some money so he gave me that deal. And I didn't play rap on it either, it was rock and roll all the way.
Anyway, back to the story.
All these cops crowded around and told me that a neighbor had seen the break in and called 911. Apparently there was a foot pursuit but the thieves got away. On the not-so-dismal side, it turns out that they didn't take the cd player and police scanner, probably because they were securely bolted in place. The female cop called it my walkie-talkie, I told her it was my police scanner, and she smiled and said "cool!"
Two or three of the cops heard a call on the radio, maybe related I don't know, and hauled ass. The rest stayed and made a report. They dusted my car for prints, I mean they dusted the whole dang thing! The car has that black powder all over it! They got one partial and for all we know it could just as well be mine.
When they took the report, they asked if I had the serial number for the amp and I didn't because I bought it used. Today I called the guy I bought it from and of all the luck he has all the receipts from when he bought the gear! I could just hug Todd sometimes!
I know, a car break-in is not that big a deal. Probably pretty commonplace for some of you. It's happened to me before a few years ago. This time it just really got to me for some reason. The cops wrapped it up and I went back to bed at 4, had to be up again at 6. Needless to say, I'm like most other folks and something like that won't let me get back to sleep. So I took off work early today and in a few minutes I'll try and catch a good nap.
None of my neighbors' cars were touched. So far as I and the cops could tell, I mean at this time of night there's a light condensation on vehicles and would have showed smudges where someone had tried a door handle or put their hands on a window. Nada. Of course being me I do take things like that personal. But then again, mine had an inviting open window so it was probably just the act of an opportunist.
Then again, maybe not. I live on College Street which is part of the historic district. Nothing but huge old houses converted to really nice apartments. Mine is one of very few on the street that has private parking, most of the other residents on this street have to park their cars on the street in front of their respective houses. As I drove down the street this morning it didn't appear that any other vehicles had been entered. Maybe the private parking lot seemed like a better place to the thugs to do their business.
Hey I gotta have my music when I drive. Sure the cd player and door and rear speakers are still there, just have to re-wire a little. That ain't the point. I want my music with some punch and clarity. I like the way those 12's made the bass roll off the back glass and into the back of my seat and massage my back when I cranked up a good rocker! But I'll be damned if I'm shelling out hundreds of dollars to end up "giving" it to some thug!
My ideas ran the gamut today from just giving in and doing without to booby-trapping any future equipment I buy. Engraving everything with my name and phone number and a message "do not accept for pawn". Hiding razor blades where someone would be likely to grab a speaker box or filling in the spaces beside the speaker box with razor wire. Maybe even putting remote-detonated explosives inside the box. I actually could have that done, I "know the right people". Good revenge fantasy, but bad real-world idea. Innocent people, especially kids, could get hurt or killed. Maybe a remote detonated stink bomb?
Then I hit on it. Maybe I could find some kind of GPS tracking device with a long-life battery and put that in my gear. They've got LoJack for cars, surely there's something along the lines of what I'm thinking of.
Of course I keep thinking, what if they come back? Maybe hoping I hurry up and replace the box. Next time there'll be a broken window for sure. Gotta get a car alarm. Maybe one that will trigger an alarm inside the house instead of on the car to wake me up and get the drop on them. Thing about these thugs is they're lazy and cowards. Stand up to them, pull a 12-gage and they'll find another target. That's why they didn't take the cd player, too much work.
There's only so much you can do, I guess. Macon is just laid out that way. You can have a good neighborhood and the next block over is the slums where you don't go after dark. That's where I live. There's historic houses on my street and the street one block south that are valued in the hundreds of thousands and even more. Then one block north of my street you find the projects and the shotgun shacks and plenty of crack dealers standing under shade trees.
I did take comfort in the fact that someone was looking out their window at 3 am and called 911. Sure wish they had yelled out that window, probably would have scared the thieves away empty handed. I was very impressed to see seven patrol cars show up. When I first saw that, I didn't know what to think. Hell, I thought someone had gotten killed or something! I told the cops how impressed I was that so many showed up for such a small thing and they just smiled.
Well, anyway, I guess I've ranted long enough.
Nap time.
Mike.