It was late Sunday evening and we were relaxing and watching tv. The lights went out and we were plunged into total darkness. We immediately went into a fight or flight response. Were they back? Did they turn off the power? Were they going to come in again? As we were trying to figure out our next move, the lights came back on. Just a temporary power failure.
My husband and I were still a little on edge. At sometime after midnight the previous Thursday morning, a hot prowler jumped our back wall and broke in through a sliding glass door. I was already asleep upstairs. My husband had on his noise canceling headphones and was watching television next to me.
The prowler went through our stuff and took small items. He opened a box and found the remote to our front gate. He took that. He took a set of keys and all the other loose keys he could find. At around 12:30 in the morning, a neighbor reported seeing someone drive off in our car. He threw the keys to the second car that he attempted to use into a neighbor’s yard. We know he tried them because the backup key in the fob was extended and the gate remote from the other car was missing.
We felt relatively safe here. It is a gated community with cameras everywhere. We have a very secure front door but he came in through the back, which required climbing over a concrete wall with no gate for a quick retreat. Sliding glass door locks are not equivalent to a deadbolt. He got in easily. We have since remedied that problem. We just thought that having no gate to the back would make us less of a target. We were not counting on a thief quite so athletic. He was experienced enough to know not to even try going through the front door to get out (it keeps logs and he clearly knew it might trigger an alarm).
I had a show booked for Saturday. I was able to get a friend and fellow magician booked for the same show, and she was kind enough to drive me to the gig since I no longer had a car. The show was great fun and a much needed stress reliever.
The car was insured, although now is a terrible time to buy a new car. We do have friends in the business who may be able to help us cut through the shortage problems. Nothing irreplaceable was stolen. So, basically, I am grateful we are both okay.
Geoff did hear a sound when the guy was downstairs, but he listened for a moment and decided it was not enough of a concern to go check out. He assumed the cat had knocked something over. That was the wrong assumption, and I am so glad he did not go check it out.