However, what really surprised me was when I saw that a wall-mounted
picture frame corner was cracked. It must have been jarred loose,
dropped on the carpet and broke when the burglar passed by it on his way
down the first floor hallway. Instead of leaving it there, he or they
put it back on the wall. I thought that whoever this person is, he is
actually courteous, if not polite. Maybe he/they did not want to think
that I would notice he had broken it so as to not give away the dirty
deed. Who knows, but it was not your typical profile of a home invasion.
I called the state police and filed a report, but that was about all I
could do. The next day I repaired the front door, added a hasp lock and
let the neighbors know what had happened. Fast forward about a few weeks
when I visited again and found the house as I left it. So it was a
one-time occurrence, I thought, and that was the end of it.
AT IT AGAIN
Two weeks ago when I returned to open the house up for the spring, they
were at it again. The hasp lock held but was bent. I thought, good for
me, I detoured them. I went into the kitchen and noticed that the back
door was unlocked. Someone had jimmied the screen door and the side
door. There was damage but not too bad. This time I felt sicker than the
last because now I felt as if I was being singled out. However, even
more odd than the last time, nothing was taken and the house was as neat
as the day I left it a few weeks earlier. The only thing they left was a
basement window unlocked for easy entrance and egress. It didn't take
long for me to get angry because now I had to spend a whole bunch of
money I don't have to burglar-proof my home. I calmed down and called
the state police again, but this time I asked for a trooper to come by.
He did, but there was not much he could do other than take notes, file a
report and make a press release available.
My reasoning in contacting law enforcement was, obviously, to file a
report, but also it was to get the grapevine working on my and my
neighborhood's behalf so eventually the message would get back to those
who broke in that this activity is being taken seriously. Anyway, as the
trooper was walking around he asked me if I was sure I was broken into.
Again, the house was totally undisturbed. I thought it had to be the
same courteous and potentially polite individual(s) who do not like mess
or to be messy. Stereotypically speaking, could it have been a woman, a
grandma, a hotel maid?
I talked to my neighbors who said they did notice something but thought
it was either me or a renter, but another did check and noticed evidence
he/they entered from a now-bolted basement window.
WHAT TO DO?
I'd like to have a conversation about all this and what to do about it
because if it persists, personally speaking, I may not be able to rent
my house next season, which means less dollars spent in town but,
moreover, I'm worried that when my guests are out they will get robbed
or, worse, they are in the process of being robbed, and when the
burglars are discovered, unlike me, they will take the law into their
own hands.
If the break-ins persist, we will all have to spend lots of money on
alarms and who knows what else? If insurance companies get a whiff of
this news, then what happens to our rates? Worse still, what if the word
gets out that the Sugarbush area is a haven for burglars? Business from
vacationers may fall.
I don't think I am speculating too much about this because I have talked
to 20 or so people about all this and almost all of them said their
house was burglarized or know someone who experienced a break-in. So my
question is, what the heck is going on! If the burglars are kids, who's
watching them? If they are adults, is this bad economy forcing good
people do bad things? However, an even bigger question is, what the heck
are we as citizens going to do about it?
I say let's start the drum beat that gets the word out to those who have
or will attempt a break-in that we are not going to tolerate it. It may
not be easy, but at least let us all keep an eye on each others'
properties. Let's make sure that parents and guardians know the
whereabouts of their teens and if we see or hear anything, report it.
Neighbors can exchange phone numbers and if we follow up with enough
calls to the state police, maybe they will create a greater presence and
help to discourage this activity.
Maynard lives in CT and Fayston
