Crime Hits Arnold Street... at my bedroom!

It was only a matter of time, really. I hadn't suspected, though, that of all 8 bedrooms and areas of our house, my bedroom would be the one that somebody tries to rob. My luck, I suppose.

So here's the story. I was sitting in my bedroom tonight, with the lights off, quietly watching a movie on my laptop. It was Poseidon (don't ask, I get bored, alright?). It was nearing the climax where the big wave is about to hit the ship when I heard the front gate open/clammer a bit, which is normal, since I live in the front bedroom. About 30 seconds later, though, I realized that I hadn't heard the gate on the front door, or the door itself. This piqued my interest a bit, so I turned down the movie. It should also be mentioned that I had one of my windows that faces the front yard open (Africa is hot), and I've started to keep blankets over them to keep the sun out (and bright). I then heard the grass rustle, and as I got up to investigate, heard my window move a bit. I quietly walked across the creaky hardwood floor to the locked side of the window, and pulled the curtains back. At first I didn't see anything, but upon looking further, saw a man about 3 feet from me, on the other side of the window I was peering through, crouching down with his hand inside my window.

I quickly yelled "Hey!" He calmly removed his hand, stood up, and began walking away. I moved to the open window he was at and yelled "Get the fuck outta here! And don't come back, we've got an alarm."

As he walked out, he kindly closed the gate behind him, and I still don't know how it got opened. I took a look at what he was wearing, and called the police. Remember, it's not 911, but 10111 here. I'm glad I remembered. To my contentment, the dispatcher struggled with my accent, but we worked through it. I gave them a description, and went to Kara to tell her. She's had her bedroom window closed every night for the last month, for fear of burglars. Ironically, about an hour earlier Mick and I convinced her that she had little to worry about, so she opened it for the first time. I told her about the incident, and upset, she closed it.

After a few minutes and no police, I figured I'd test my panic remote since the security company should probably be notified as well. It works! It took the police about 8 minutes to arrive, and our armed security response company about 4-5. The officer gave me the cell phone of the patrol vehicle in Observatory, since a direct call to them when there is a crime is much more effective (odd). Both parties said they'd look for the black male with a red knit cap and a green soccer shirt/jersey. Blog readers, please also be on the lookout. He wouldn't have gotten anything, though, since I don't keep anything near my window except a constantly locked closet. And we have bars to keep him out.

Then I finished watching Poseidon, which was a crime in itself. Just an excruciating and terrible movie. I'm more upset with Kurt Russell than the burglar tonight.

On a slightly unrelated topic, but related to the police, the following sign was posted on our fridge by the rental company:

I don't know much about the South African constitution, but that wouldn't fly in the US. I asked our landlord for more information, and apparently this happened in the next neighborhood down (Woodstock) last week.

The police come at like 3am and cordon off an entire city block, then proceed to search everyone's houses. And yes, they do have a warrant, apparently, to search the houses. I asked "for what?" The response: just to search. No mention of why.

They are looking for thieves and drug dealers, I hear, but that doesn't make me trust them any more. Or anybody else on Arnold Street for that matter. But hey, it was not a very big incident.