The following was written by a crime victim who experienced something this week that you'd never think would happen!Unfortunately, the criminals are everywhere and they'll go to extreme measures to get what they want!!
I want to tell all of you about a horrible experience I had yesterday afternoon... I met a friend at 11:30 at Ilios Noche, a restaurant located on Providence Road near 485 in the Harris Teeter shopping center. As soon as lunch was over, around 12:30, I got in my truck and drove directly home. As I pulled in the driveway, I attempted to use my garage door opener which is always left on the visor but I couldn't find it.
I assumed, for the moment, that it had fallen out of the truck and then began looking for my cell phone which I couldn't seem to locate either. Then, it occurred to me that my car had been broken into and, sure enough, I got back out of the car to find that the lock assembly had been pried open and was broken. This same thing happened to me Christmas 2006 in the Kohl's parking lot in Pineville. So, needless to say, I was quite perturbed!
At the same time, I was thinking that this time wasn't so bad because I was smart enough not to leave my camera, petty cash, etc. in the car like last time. I immediately called my husband, who was traveling in Raleigh for the day. He told me that he had an extra key on his truck which was parked in the driveway and where it was located. By this time, several of my neighbors were with me, thank goodness.
I finally got the key from his truck, opened his door and got his remote garage door opener. As I opened the garage, I immediately noticed that the door was open leading into the house and the light was on. So, I'm now completely hysterical and panicking.
The people who had stolen my garage door opener way out near 485 had already been to my house, robbed it, shut the garage door back down and left! I went back to my truck, looked in the glove box and noticed that the registration was missing. So, clearly, they had GPS'd my address off the registration and drove directly out here..... all while I was having lunch with a friend. Of course, I called 911 and two policemen came to the house and pulled there weapons to search inside while my neighbors and I waited outside. Luckily, they were already gone.
Needless to say, it has been a very sleepless night. I'm rehearsing all the 'what-if's' in my head. My husband works out of the house and just happened to be gone yesterday. A lot of times, he doesn't answer the door if he's tied up on the phone. I'm sure if he had heard the garage open, he would have assumed it was me. In this case, it wasn't...
My husband actually mentioned to me last night that he still would have pulled in the driveway if he was on his way home even if he saws a strange vehicle sitting in the driveway. He would have assumed it was someone visiting me. My kids had a very tough time going to sleep last night, needless to say. As most of you know, we've already had a truck stolen from our driveway several years ago. They can't wrap their little minds around why people keep doing these things to us!
I'm sending this to you because we made some mistakes here at home. My door leading from the garage into the house was not locked and the alarm wasn't set. Maybe it would have made a difference, maybe not. After my car was broken into at Kohl's in 2006, I started taking our dog with me. He was with me yesterday and wasn't a deterrent. For those of you who know my dog, you know he's just a "looker"---all bark, no bite!
Ladies, PLEASE be careful and precautions out there. Clearly, I was being watched in that parking lot yesterday. As a result of this incident, we've had to suspend our checking account, etc., disable the garage doors and have a security company coming out today. Consider hiding your garage door openers or carrying them with you. Neighbors also need to be on their toes about whose coming and going. If you see something suspicious, jot down a license plate.