Purse snatcher?
I was cleaning up the dinner dishes tonight when, though my open kitchen window, I heard footsteps, some crashing around in the bushes, and then the sounds of someone scaling my fence and running through my yard. Longtime readers may remember my encounters with horny teens and other wayward teens using my side yard as a shortcut through the neighborhood. I haven't have problems in a while now, but it doesn't surprise me to hear people running around in my yard anymore, either.
Curious, and slightly irritated, I walked out onto the front porch, where I could hear some girls yelling to each other from around the corner. I figured there was some group of kids on their way home, all planning to cut through my yard. Instead, I discovered a couple of girls walking the neighborhood, scanning the yards, looking for something or someone. A car pulled up, and I listened as they talked to the girls on the street.
"Where are they?"
"They jumped the fence..."
"I'll call the police again. Did you find the purse?"
They moved off down the block.
More curious now, I wondered if I should call the police and report the activity in my yard. I held off, and went out the back to look down the alley. From the back gate, I saw two teenage boys. Unsure if they were with the teenage posse or not, I just watched. As a car came past the alley, they jumped into the neighbor's yard and hid in the bushes. Then, from the other direction, the girls' car entered the alley, and the boys ran off empty-handed down the block. The alley is shaped like an L and my house is right at the corner, so I had a view of both directions at once. I motioned the girls in the car to come down to my end, and they told me their friend's purse had been stolen by the two boys. I offered to call the police, they thanked me and drove off in the direction the boys had run.
I called the police, and the woman who answered my 911 call could not have been less interested in my report. She tried to tell me that unless the girls were willing to stay at my house and talk to the police, she wasn't going to do anything, but I pressed her to at least take the information I had (the description of the boys, the car the girls were driving, etc).
A few minutes later I heard more shuffling around in the bushes so I again went out on the front porch. One of the girls was back, this time with a boy. "Did you see them throw anything else?" she asked me. "I only found these things." She held up what looked like a license and some papers. I told her that I hadn't seen anything, but the boys had been hiding in the neighbor's bushes, so they went off to search there. I didn't expect the police to come, but sure enough, two police cars sped around the corner and down the block as I was standing there.
I looked around in the back yard with a flashlight a little while ago. No purse, but I did find a basketball with a name on it.
Chris arrived home about half an hour after this excitement, and told me that on his way home he'd seen five police cars, with lights on, blocking off the area between our house and the freeway. Not sure if it had anything to do with our little purse snatching. Maybe the posse found the boys and gave them a beatdown or something.
Anyway, I figure that's plenty of excitement for me tonight.
Curious, and slightly irritated, I walked out onto the front porch, where I could hear some girls yelling to each other from around the corner. I figured there was some group of kids on their way home, all planning to cut through my yard. Instead, I discovered a couple of girls walking the neighborhood, scanning the yards, looking for something or someone. A car pulled up, and I listened as they talked to the girls on the street.
"Where are they?"
"They jumped the fence..."
"I'll call the police again. Did you find the purse?"
They moved off down the block.
More curious now, I wondered if I should call the police and report the activity in my yard. I held off, and went out the back to look down the alley. From the back gate, I saw two teenage boys. Unsure if they were with the teenage posse or not, I just watched. As a car came past the alley, they jumped into the neighbor's yard and hid in the bushes. Then, from the other direction, the girls' car entered the alley, and the boys ran off empty-handed down the block. The alley is shaped like an L and my house is right at the corner, so I had a view of both directions at once. I motioned the girls in the car to come down to my end, and they told me their friend's purse had been stolen by the two boys. I offered to call the police, they thanked me and drove off in the direction the boys had run.
I called the police, and the woman who answered my 911 call could not have been less interested in my report. She tried to tell me that unless the girls were willing to stay at my house and talk to the police, she wasn't going to do anything, but I pressed her to at least take the information I had (the description of the boys, the car the girls were driving, etc).
A few minutes later I heard more shuffling around in the bushes so I again went out on the front porch. One of the girls was back, this time with a boy. "Did you see them throw anything else?" she asked me. "I only found these things." She held up what looked like a license and some papers. I told her that I hadn't seen anything, but the boys had been hiding in the neighbor's bushes, so they went off to search there. I didn't expect the police to come, but sure enough, two police cars sped around the corner and down the block as I was standing there.
I looked around in the back yard with a flashlight a little while ago. No purse, but I did find a basketball with a name on it.
Chris arrived home about half an hour after this excitement, and told me that on his way home he'd seen five police cars, with lights on, blocking off the area between our house and the freeway. Not sure if it had anything to do with our little purse snatching. Maybe the posse found the boys and gave them a beatdown or something.
Anyway, I figure that's plenty of excitement for me tonight.
I was really hoping that this story would end with "And I chased the purse-snatchers all the way to the freeway, with Kate running along behind." Maybe next time. :)
Heh...
I was kinda hoping for it to end: "I heard more rustling in the bushes, so I leapt into action, striking furiously with my Elbow Of Death, and rendered the Danceyesque little reprobates unconscious."
But that's just me.