Attempted Break-in
We got back, walked up to the front door and I decided I needed to water my plants as they were looking at bit sad. So I went up the side of the house to the back to get the watering can while Kevin went in the front door. The back of our house is pitch black at night but I know it well so I just wandered round, right along the back of the house and grabbed the watering can. I then looked around and realised there was something moving in the dark … something very big. Eventually this heaving shape resolved itself into a man climbing out of my kitchen window at which point I started SCREAMING. Forget panic alarms, I was easily louder than any of those, the whole street must have heard me.
As I was only about 4 feet from the man in question, he must have got a fair fright as well (who wanders around back gardens in the pitch black at midnight after all??). Seems like he heard Kevin going in the front and scarpered back out the way he came in. Of course Kevin, in the house, has no idea what is happening other than there is screaming outside the house … I can’t imagine what was going through his mind when he realised it was me screaming. Anyway I ran back to the front, went in the house and after some total incoherence explained to Kevin what I’d seen. At which point we had no idea if there was still anyone in the house or anything.
I rang the police and our neighbours were also out asking if we were OK, they very kindly helped Kevin check if there was anyone else in the house. The police responded quickly and were very good, which is great. I’m sure they had enough going on on a Saturday night! Anyway the fingerprint people came this morning and got a good footprint from the kitchen counter, which was very interesting as I’ve never seen them do that before.
To cut a long story short, we are fine, nobody was hurt (although we both got almighty frights), and nothing was taken. The window is boarded up now and we will get it replaced as quickly as we can. It seems like the intruder thought we were upstairs asleep (car on the drive, no lights on, midnight), and it was just very lucky that we got back when we did, there was no sign that he had been anywhere other than the kitchen.
*hug* What a crap thing to return to. Still, lucky that you disturbed them before they took anything.
I can only echo dotjay. I’m glad nothing bad happened.
Rob…
Glad to hear you’re not hurt and nothing was taken, but I’m sure sorry to hear about this.
I hope they catch the guy. Seriously sucks!
thanks people for dropping by and adding a comment, the support means a lot. I have no idea how likely they are to catch him and I’m keeping my expecations of that pretty low, for now we are just making some practical changes in the house and trying to keep the whole thing in perspective.
Saw your post in the DevNetwork PHP forum, followed it to here. Good thing to hear you and your husband were not hurt. Your message was a wake-up call. Unfortunately tonight my wife and I heard that our sister-in-law’s Internet connection was cut by an angry ex-boyfriend, and we suspect he’s back on the coke after being off of it for many years, so now my wife and I are loading up the .22 and getting ready to prevent a break-in of our own.
thats rubbish lots of cuddles for you at least you can make necessary changes now :) I hope they catch him but like you say i wont hold my breath… our recent break in they caught the lads in question still with glass on their clothing from our house and they still couldnt charge them! see you soon xXx
volomike: I think for us it was just opportunism so its not an ongoing worry. Also here in the UK we have a somewhat different approach to the idea of bearing arms and defending one’s property.
caity: I agree they are unlikely to get anyone, basically they’ll only get him if they get him for something else! I was surprised they didn’t manage to press charges with yours as it was pretty obvious who was responsible!
Sounds scary.
How has it effected you in terms of keeping your eye out for unlocked windows when you leave the house, checking the doors are locked before bed time..etc ?
Chloe: it hasn’t made much difference as I’ve always been paranoid about closing windows and I keep the doors locked at all times even when I’m home! They got in by removing part of the window, it was an old-style wooden one so we’re having most of the remaining wooden windows replaced with double glazing. We’ve also had help from the Crime Reduction people who have replaced our front door lock and fitted additional door and window security throughout the house.