On car break-ins

For the last four years my daughter's (Sarah) cars have been targets of mischief. In 2004, her senior year of high school, Sarah drove an old '95 green Grand Am. This car was broken into that fall and many CD's and forty dollars in cash was stolen. I think we made a police report even though I told her she should no better than to leave it unlocked. Didn't matter. With in the next two months it was broken into two more times and the handle completely ripped off each time. Again CD's and cash was taken and police reports were made. Since then she has bought a new car, moved to an apartment here in town and then moved to Kentucky but when her car spends the night in the driveway it gets broken into frequently. She resolved to keep nothing in her car more valuable than her door handle and began leaving it unlocked so that it would at least be undamaged. She slipped up a few times and left some CD's and a cell phone charger in it and sure enough they turned up missing. I convinced her to start locking her car again since the Suzuki has full coverage and we can get the handle replaced if something happens to it. So she did.

Now we've had our suspicions of who might be doing this. There are two little thugletts that live two doors down, in the house on the other side of the bad dog people. The older of the two is maybe twenty three, the younger is seventeen now. The younger, Mitchell, is friends with the bad dog people, I'm guessing someone is supplying someone else with something. But we've just had suspicions, no proof. In March of 2007 I watched as Mitchell and three thuggy friends broke a car window. I reported it to the police as I was following them down the ditch behind my house giving a description of what the were wearing. And they were all four caught. This kid is bad. His brother's name appears in the paper once in a while on drug related matters. Bad boy. These neighbors gotta go too!

Sarah's car was broke into again Friday night and we found that we have a sort of witness. Saturday morning I was up early getting ready to go to the Georgia Aquarium with my grandson, Warren, friends Twyla, Kevin, and Jonathan. I was dressing in the living room and looking out the window when I noticed a light reflecting off of Sarah's windshield in the driveway. We don't have street lights anywhere near so I knew that wasn't it. I walked outside to get my car seat and the stroller out and ready to put in Twyla's car and noticed that the light was coming from inside Sarah's car. I lifted the handle and found that it wasn't even latched. That's the way the perp has been leaving it. I guess so he doesn't make a noise shutting the door. On the driver seat was Sarah's CD case, opened. I woke Sarah up and asked if she had gone outside to look for a CD but of course she had not. The little thief was at it again. The one night Sarah forgets to lock her doors it happens again. While I was still standing in the driveway I noticed that my neighbor across the street's car door was opened too. I walked across the street to shut it so that he wouldn't wake up the next morning with a dead battery. Before I left for Atlanta I told Sarah to be sure and tell Mr. Terry that I shut his door. I didn't want to be accused of anything.

Later Saturday Mr. Terry and Sarah made police reports. Apparently the Terry's have had many break-ins as well. They've had CD's and Cell phones and such stolen too. The police officer informed them that this was common in the neighborhood. I didn't like that. He also said that there have been a few daytime house break-ins recently even with people home. Not good.

On Sunday my neighbor on the other side mentioned to my husband that he had come home late (like 2:30am) from work and was sitting in his carport smoking when a skinny white boy with dark, very short cut hair walked past him right up against his house past my house then into Michell's house. Sarah picked up her police report Monday and mentioned to the reports people that she had a possible witness. A detective tried to get in touch with her Wednesday and left a voice mail. He said, "I understand you have a suspect named Wellingham and by that do you mean Mitchell?" Apparently he's know.

Today I was feeding Parker on the couch in the bay window and noticed a boy in a red shirt walk towards Michell's door. The guy fit the description perfectly so I got up and took a picture of his car. I only got a view of the front so I called Sarah and asked her to hurry home so she could get the license plate. She did. A minute later the boy was out of the house again. I grabbed the camera but by then only got a picture of his backside. It's a start. We know what he's driving now. We'll get him!