Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

chowmama

(413 posts)
Mon Aug 29, 2022, 11:35 PM Aug 2022

I just got robbed!

Ok, this isn't exactly national or international. In fact, not that much happened. But it's a pain in the ass.

I came home after a ten-hour day to be confronted on my porch by a woman who claimed to have inherited my house. Everything in it was apparently hers. I was firm but reasonably polite and sent her on her way, instructing her to come back with papers, the police and a lawyer. She was more than a few fries short of a happy meal.

She came back, all right. Within 10 minutes, she'd entered my back yard, broken out a window to the enclosed back porch, had stolen a battery to some tool we had back there and was emptying my chest freezer. To access the window, she must have used a garden spade we had back there (it wasn't where I left it) and climbed up on our garbage bins.

I snatched back all the frozen food but elected not to fight her for the battery. If I ever figure out what tool it belongs to, I'll get another one. Assuming we still have the tool and need the battery. My neighbors heard the yelling and came out to help me evict her - apparently, she's been bothering people in the neighborhood all day. (She also owns the house across the way and a car/truck that belongs to the people two houses south of us. In the world she lives in. There had been a number of reports, I heard later.)

I'd called the cops by that time, and it takes a lot in my neighborhood to motivate me to do that. I live easy walking distance from the George Floyd grocery and memorial intersection. The men who showed up were too late to find her but were entirely professional. They were a little upset that I'd sliced myself on the Glad Ware freezer containers and was bleeding pretty good. I assured them that she hadn't done it and that I didn't need an ambulance. Seriously. half an inch and shallow. Bled like a stuck pig.

Anyway, they went away. DH went to a hardware store for a padlock for the back gate. (The front gate is worthless, as she could just walk onto the porch and hop over a short fence, but it made us feel better.) While there, he saw the woman at a nearby convenience store but didn't think to alert the cops. While I was trying to hammer plywood over the now non-existent window she came back down the alley to ask me if she'd left her EBT card. As DH said - the nerve! She honestly didn't act like she expected us to be the slightest bit upset.

I called 911 again. I also started following her, much to the upset of the 911 operator (and DH). I wasn't about to confront the woman but, in her condition, if I stayed about 3/4 of a block away, she just didn't know I was there. The cop came down our alley and started cross-hatching the area. When they pulled up next to me, I was able to point and say 'That's her". Saw her cuffed and on her way to the car.

We've got at least 24 hours to try to secure the house, but that whole porch is so old that I don't know if we can. I hope A: (best case scenario) that she gets committed and gets some treatment/help or B: that she gets released into the wild in some other neighborhood. She is definitely on track to hurt herself or somebody else.

LSS, don't mess with old people. We don't give up. We will find you.

18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I just got robbed! (Original Post) chowmama Aug 2022 OP
What an ordeal. So glad you're okay but better move those garbage bins. It was hard on you ratchiweenie Aug 2022 #1
I am glad that you are OK and please stay safe. CentralMass Aug 2022 #2
Glad you are ok! SheltieLover Aug 2022 #3
I'm so glad you're ok. What an ordeal! Beakybird Aug 2022 #4
Come and take it. chowmama Aug 2022 #5
You're are a better more tolerant person than I am... Enter stage left Aug 2022 #6
I am going to press charges chowmama Aug 2022 #7
Welcome to DU, chowmama! calimary Aug 2022 #8
One of the time DH was most upset chowmama Aug 2022 #9
Good luck (who knew there was a true crime group?) grantcart Aug 2022 #10
Frightening. Sorry this happened to you but maybe the woman will be sent for a psychiatric LoisB Aug 2022 #11
What a bizarre experience! wnylib Aug 2022 #12
Good luck securing your house LetMyPeopleVote Aug 2022 #13
I too hope she gets the help she needs. Straw Man Aug 2022 #14
re following her- mopinko Aug 2022 #15
I'm glad you are ok. brer cat Aug 2022 #16
Message auto-removed Name removed Sep 2022 #17
Just read your story Better Days Ahoy Oct 2022 #18

ratchiweenie

(7,754 posts)
1. What an ordeal. So glad you're okay but better move those garbage bins. It was hard on you
Mon Aug 29, 2022, 11:43 PM
Aug 2022

but it makes for a very entertaining story for me. Sorry but I got a good laugh out of it. Hope someone gets her some mental health care but given the state of Mental Health Services these days, I wouldn't hold my breath. Take care and update us if she returns. LOL.

Enter stage left

(3,397 posts)
6. You're are a better more tolerant person than I am...
Tue Aug 30, 2022, 12:18 AM
Aug 2022

The second or third time I had seen her, I'd have been arrested for assault & battery. or worse.

I am TOTALLY out of fucks to give. Bring it MF'ers, You'll find out how some trained old farts fight back.

chowmama

(413 posts)
7. I am going to press charges
Tue Aug 30, 2022, 12:30 AM
Aug 2022

Whatever the police need me to do. She needs this on her record and I suspect she's got quite a record already. I don't expect to get anything from her, as I don't expect she has anything to take. I'll be gob smacked if I get the battery back. (I suspect she traded it at the convenience store. She didn't have it the first time I saw her on my front porch and she didn't have it when I saw her the third time when she came back for her EBT card. It went somewhere.)

But seriously, she needs help. If charges get her that, I'll press charges. Like I said, she's scheduled to hurt herself or somebody else or both. I hate to see a human being wasted.

calimary

(81,350 posts)
8. Welcome to DU, chowmama!
Tue Aug 30, 2022, 12:41 AM
Aug 2022

Thanks for sharing that harrowing story. I'm glad you're okay, and I'm also glad you're a fighter!

And YEAH! DON'T MESS WITH OLD PEOPLE! We've been around long enough to know a few things.

chowmama

(413 posts)
9. One of the time DH was most upset
Tue Aug 30, 2022, 01:01 AM
Aug 2022

was when we had a domestic situation down the street. I woke up to flashing lights and a bullhorn saying "Come out with your hands up!". They were right in front of our house.

I got the dogs secured in their kennels for their own safety. Got into decent pajamas (don't ask) and stuck my head and hands out the door. What I yelled was "It would help if you said which house." A cop stuck his head out of the squad window and yelled "Not yours!" I closed the door and went back to the bedroom.

It was two doors down the street, as it turned out. The next announcement was somewhat strangled but did include the name of the person they wanted. I looked out the window to see a cop with an automatic rifle sheltering behind a tree in our yard. And considered that I might be late for work.

I think our address is already notorious.

LoisB

(7,212 posts)
11. Frightening. Sorry this happened to you but maybe the woman will be sent for a psychiatric
Tue Aug 30, 2022, 01:44 AM
Aug 2022

evaluation. That should keep her away for at least 72 hours. She sounds delusional and deranged.

Straw Man

(6,625 posts)
14. I too hope she gets the help she needs.
Tue Aug 30, 2022, 02:35 AM
Aug 2022

Unfortunately, she probably won't, a sad legacy of the deinstitutionalization of the severely mentally ill during the Reagan years. Apparently it was more important for the rich to pay less in taxes than for those unfortunate souls to get decent, professional care.

mopinko

(70,144 posts)
15. re following her-
Tue Aug 30, 2022, 07:17 AM
Aug 2022

i have a neighbor who's an untreated schizophrenic. in 2020, she started showing up at my place. in a previous incident, she had walked into my house in the middle of the night. looking for her ex, she said. i called 911, and she got 30 days.
she showed up twice in my back yard. the 1st time i shooed her off, but the 2nd time i called 911.
the dispatcher was obsessed w finding out if this was 'a domestic situation'. they were getting so many domestic and neighbor conflicts that they wouldnt come out if no one was armed or throwing punches. i argued w the dispatcher for 10 min. i knew who she was and where she lived. she finally walked away as i was talking to dispatch. i followed at a safe distance, and i knew she wasnt violent. but dispatcher was pissed. trouble is when i didnt have eyes on her any more, they had their excuse to blow off the call.
i asked for a super and didnt get connected but she came back and said she could send an car, but i never saw a car.

a friend of mine is rehabbing the house next to hers, and she's a real problem. she worries about her getting hurt.

brer cat

(24,579 posts)
16. I'm glad you are ok.
Tue Aug 30, 2022, 08:38 AM
Aug 2022

She sounds like someone who needs mental health treatment, but is unlikely to get it.

Response to chowmama (Original post)

Better Days Ahoy

(698 posts)
18. Just read your story
Sat Oct 29, 2022, 01:08 AM
Oct 2022

My response:
A. Glad you're OK.
B. Hope you stayed OK.
C. Right on, sister, about old people not giving up. Gotcha there. Would have done the same thing. Confront then seek.
D. The older I get, the less life in prison is a deterrent. Cannot recall who said that. Wish it'd been me.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»True Crime»I just got robbed!