It’s one thing to come home and find that your home has been robbed. It’s another thing entirely to be woken up by the sounds of someone burglarizing your home while you sleep.
Every few years, we seem to have a rash of these sorts of robberies. They’re usually in summer when windows are left open in hope of an elusive nighttime breeze. A scarier version of this crime is the snatch-and-grab artist who, while the homeowner is moving the sprinkler in the front yard, pops into an open back door to grab whatever he can — usually a purse. Brazen! I was chilled to hear the story from an elderly couple who lived down the street from me. They had just sat down to lunch when a stranger came down from upstairs and went out the front door. I guess he figured he could … so he did.
Currently, the Vancouver Police Department is working on apprehending a serial break-and-enter criminal who has been burglarizing homes on Vancouver’s West Side this year. They can assign at least 16 B&Es to this enterprising fellow. Coming home to find that your home has been burglarized is always an awful experience, but this guy is breaking into homes while people are at home, while they’re sleeping. And he has hit at least one home twice.
Someone I know figures she had a lucky encounter with this guy. Here’s her story: “It was the middle of the day. I was at the kitchen window when I noticed this young Asian guy heading into my backyard. I opened the window and asked him, ‘Can I help you?’ He answered that he was Vancouver police. This is when my hackles went up. Doesn’t VPD knock at your front door before snooping around your backyard? Especially if the ‘officer’ is in plainclothes? He explained that he was looking for closed-circuit cameras that may have caught images of a robber working in the area. I asked him when and where the robbery was. He gave a vague answer, but it made no sense. The robbery was two blocks away, according to him. ‘Why would a robber from two blocks away make his getaway through my backyard?’ I asked. I told him we had no CC cameras, and he left. I wish I’d asked for his card or some identification. I called the non-emergency number for VPD and reported the incident and the so-called officer. The police never got back to me — which in itself, is alarming. A few months later, the news had closed-circuit camera images of the robber in action. I recognized him instantly. Now I’m trying to get used to locking doors and windows even when I’m home.”
That sure sounds like a near-miss, doesn’t it? If she hadn’t been at the kitchen sink, I wonder what might have happened. Property crime is certainly a bigger part of our lives these days. I’ve had my car broken into about half a dozen times over the past 20 years. Once, we woke up to find our car up on blocks and the new tires stolen … and the car had been parked directly under the bedroom window. I once looked out my window in the middle of the night to see two guys on bikes stopping to look into each parked car on the block. And we’ve all seen crooks exit a parking lot with their arms full of garbage bags stuffed with stolen property. This, I can live with, if I have to. I just don’t want to wake up to a fellow intent on parting me with my antiquated technology or silly jewelry. There’s really no saying how that could end.
Jane Macdougall is a freelance writer and former National Post columnist who lives in Vancouver. She writes The Bookless Club every Saturday online and in The Vancouver Sun. For more of what Jane’s up to, check out her website, janemacdougall.com
This week’s question for readers:
Question: Have you ever been burglarized? What precautions do you take?
Send your answers by email text, not an attachment, in 100 words or less, along with your full name to Jane at [email protected]. We will print some next week in this space.
Last week’s question for readers:
Question: What are your Canada Day or summer rituals?
• The Tragically Hip, no explanation or story required. We all feel the same.
Deborah Jean
• In our working lives, we were both teachers. For us, the official beginning of summer was the Port Moody Firefighter’s Pancake Breakfast (part of Golden Spike Days). This year is the 48th annual Pancake Breakfast. It’s been $5 for as long as we can remember, and is a great way to kick off the summer.
Byron Yip
• Our summer family ritual is Third Beach in Stanley Park. I have been going there since 1973 and haven’t missed a summer. My 50-year-old daughter can say the same. She was there in July 1974, one month before she was born! Now the ritual includes her children too, two of whom in their 20s now. It is a beautiful and special place for all of us.
Jean Lawrence
• One of the Canada Day rituals that I cannot miss is when I attend the Canadian citizenship ceremony at Canada Place and offer my warm welcome to many new citizens to the nation’s family. It’s the one event that instils a lot of pride in me, knowing the risks and challenges so many immigrants had to take to come to Canada and hopefully partake in all that our nation offers and contribute as best as they can to keeping our country a safe, diversity friendly, accepting, democratic nation with all the rights and freedoms we cherish. The only other summer ritual I really enjoy is eating all the cold, seedless watermelon I can on the hottest days of the summer.
Leslie Benisz
• My husband was a passionate gardener. I am not. We have two shrubs, one in front, one in back. He told me the name several times, but somehow, I never remember. I do remember the generic name is Hot Lips, but since the little flowers are red and white, I just call them our Canada Day plant and put some in a vase every year.
Linda Moore
• On Canada Day, we normally visit a family friend at their summer cabin just below the border. The joke was we were bringing the True North, south. It was always a great day on the water. This year, we’re staying home … and for the foreseeable future. What could be more Canadian than that?
Name withheld
