[Ti] OT: House burglary tonight

[cbirds]

On Saturday, December 27, 2003, at 04:19  PM, Phillip McGree wrote:

> My house got burgled tonight.
>
> I fell asleep really early tonight, whilst laying on my bed watching  
> tv.  I didn't mean to doze off so early, and so hadn't locked the  
> front door.
>
> I woke up at about 3:30am and noticed that there was someone in my  
> bedroom (I live alone).  In that first few seconds I have recognised  
> that there were two unfamiliar people in front of me, looking as  
> startled as I was.
>
> I look to my left, where my Apple PowerBook G4 laptop normally is, and  
> notice that it's gone.  Alarm sets in as I realise that these people  
> in front of me are stealing from me, and have got my PowerBook.
>
> I jump up and give chase.  The people run off and I pursue them across  
> the front yard.  They run to an early model Mitsubishi Magna, which is  
> parked out the front.  The driver's window is down and I race towards  
> it, having decided that the only way I was going to stop this lot is  
> to stop the car from taking off.
>
> It was like in a movie - I missed by split seconds.  My hand was  
> centimetres away from reaching into the car before it took off.  Its  
> headlights were off, and I wasn't able to see the licence plate.
>
> It turns out that they have taken my wallet, which was in my shorts on  
> the floor.  They have gone through my desk drawer and taken the $100  
> note that was there.  They have also stolen my Canon G2 digital  
> camera.  They were obviously working their way through the house when  
> I have woken up and disturbed them.  If I had have woken up a few  
> seconds earlier then I could have prevented them from taking anything.  
>  If I had not have woken up at all then they could have cleaned out  
> the entire house.
>
> I went for a ride on my RZ to see if I could get lucky and find  
> anything of mine that had been thrown from the car.  That PowerBook is  
> worth money, and although it's backed up fairly regularly, there's  
> always daily email that I can't afford to lose.  And I just can't  
> afford the financial loss (ie it's not insured).
>
> I locked up the house and rode a lap of the area on the bike and  
> didn't find anything so returned home to survey what was taken.  I  
> noticed that the power supply for the PowerBook was still there, but  
> the cable was stretched out to where it doesn't normally go.  Then I  
> see that my PowerBook is in the corner. Turns out that they were in  
> the process of taking it when I woke up, so that was a huge relief.   
> Being a metal casing, the police should be able to get fingerprints  
> from whoever moved it.  Another few seconds and I would have lost it.   
> I'm pissed off that I have lost my digital camera, my wallet and some  
> money, but the PowerBook was the most crucial and valuable thing.
>
> These people were aboriginal, about late teens.  The Mitsubishi Magna  
> was in excellent condition, which leads me to believe that it's  
> stolen.  They have obviously driven around looking for somewhere to  
> break into, tried my screen door, and come inside.  Not really the  
> sort of thing that one expects to wake up to, and certainly reinforces  
> the harsh reality of home security.


Well Phil, looks like you shoulda had a gun like we do here in the US.
The state can't protect you from everyone.

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"...there is no constitutional right to be protected by the state  
against being murdered by criminals or madmen. It is monstrous if the  
state fails to protect its residents against such predators, but it  
does not violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or,  
we suppose, any other provision of the Constitution. The Constitution  
is a charter of negative liberties; it tells the state to let people  
alone. It does not require the federal government of the state to  
provide services, even so elementary a service as maintaining law and  
order." 												 - U.S. Court of Appeals, 1982
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