Thieves and vandalizers

[Celtic_Emperor]

It would seem we have some folks here telling us their personal problems and personal highs, so I figured it couldn't hurt to share this. I'll try and make it as simple as I can so it doesn't seem complicated.

Basically, I live in an apartment complex.

The garages are in the back, thats also where our parking spaces are, but see we live in the front, towards the street, so its easier for us to just park our cars on the street.

Anyways, recently, the girl and her boyfriend that lived next door moved out. They were good neighbors and its their garage thats next to ours, and when they moved out that left that garage empty. See, the only thing dividing the four garages (as this is a four apartment building) are these thin boards and plasters. Recently, the apartments were sold to a new owner and he has yet to fix the boarding in the garages, though he has said he would and I believe him. He's a good, young man probably only 5 years older than me.

Anyways, basically, since the girl next door moved out, people have been going into our garage, rifling through our boxes, and moving them around. They also broke some of the boarding so they could fit through. All they have to do now to get to ours is move through theirs, into the empty one, and then into ours.

We know they've got in at least twice. The first time they didn't take anything, and we did our best to block up the hole, but earlier today we went to check and they just pushed the stuff out the way obviously and this time they actually stole something- my old desktop computer.

There wasn't anything valuable on it and there was something wrong with it, but damnit, this isn't right. And what gets me is theres no way we can prove whose doing it, and theres no way we can keep an eye on the garage 24/7. They live in one of the back apartments, one of the ones closer to the garages.

We're pretty sure we know who it is now. Its this young girl, this stupid punk chola (or however you say it in spanish) and her vato(however you say that in spanish) boyfriend. Coincidentally they were in the back alley today and were coming as we were leaving and they could not look us in the eyes. They just kept walking, and she was on a bike.

They both look like trouble anyways, and the cops have been down here before and almost took her kid away because she was allowing some guy with a drug record to live there. Funny how when the cops would come she either wasn't there or didn't answer the door. She's paranoid and one time when I went to take out the trash some guy came out and watched me, and looked at me in sort of a "whats he doing back there, who is he, what does he want", and when he realized I live here he calmed down and went back inside, but he looked as if he might jump me otherwise. She always has some guy living there, and we suspect theres someone living in her garage. I'm pretty sure she's doing illegal things too but theres no way we can prove any of it.

She looks like a street girl, if you know what I mean, and so does he. He looked like he just got out of jail or something. The only reason she's even able to stay here is because of the welfare. Her mother also dumped her with her kids, so who knows if she's getting coverage for that too.

As far as that's concerned, I say this-

Anyways, what should I do?

We're already going to talk to the owner and insist that he repair the walls in the garages. Its not his fault that its like that. The previous owner didn't fix it and we had barely moved in at the time. This stealing hasn't been going on for long either, it was so unexpected and theres no reason for it. We don't give anybody a problem. Maybe they think we have nice things.

Once the walls are fixed this will never happen again. They'd have to have a key or break down the wall.

Also, we don't know who did it, but two weeks ago someone broke the airvent window piece, or whatever it's called (you know that small little window in the back of four door cars that doesn't go down?). Anyways, someone broke that for no reason, and it was already raining daily at the point, so that was a stress. Its fixed, but it could happen again at any time and we'd have no way to stop it or prove who did it even if we think we know who did it. It must have been done at night, by a coward. I think these incidents are connected.

See, the garages weren't built to house cars, just property. So we'd either have to park the car in the back (definitely not a good so we don't and its easier and better this way) or park it in the front, which is what we do.

So, there aren't many options available, or are there?

First, if we call the cops, can they actually do anything and search the other apartments without just cause? What about the landlord or owner? Surely they have the right to enter an apartment whenever they want so long as the person is home, right?

And if we do that and nothing can be done right on the spot, they'll know it's us that called the cops, and they might do more things to our things.

One thing is certain, we're not afraid of this trash, this refuse of the human race. And more importantly, we've got God the Almightly on our side, and He always does justice for His in one way or another. I know that for a fact, its not an empty hope or wish or a blind faith. Prayer does things, it accomplishes things.

I know God will handle them somehow, someway, and on His terms, He always does. But for now, what should we do to keep this from happening again? Some advice would definitely help and make me feel better.

 

[BlackmoonDoll]

i thought you said you were gonna make that short? 😛

Simple answer.get the local police involved and have them set up some very well hidden small video cameras around the gargage of the apartment complex and inside the gargage as well. and then also have the cops set up a small video camera near that couples apartment. Then that way you'll be able to detect everywhich way (with the video camers turned on) which way the burglers go and what they take and who they are.

i'm serious about this as well. i would check into it Celtic_Emperor or have your apartment manger really check into it!

its about safety

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

I didn't say I was going to make it short. That wouldn't have been possible with so much to explain and say.

What I said was I would try and make it as simple as possible, so as to try and make it easier to read.

Anyways, thats a good idea, but will the cops really do that?

"Hey, people are stealing from me, put cameras all around my apartment complex!"

They're going to want a damn good reason to put such effort into something like this. Its ultimately not worth it, if you ask me, and I honestly don't think they'd do that. I think my best bet is just to have the owner do something about it. Its technically his property, he should care that people are breaking it to get into other people's garages.

I also forgot to mention that some people moved into the appartment next to us that the girl and her boyfriend used to live in. That means their garage will be filled and it would be harder for the thieves to make it through two garages to get to ours. They'd have to climb over stuff, etc.

The only thing is, right now, the new people don't have much in their garage, they barely moved in and their an older couple it seems. The thieves can still get through if they want, nothing is obstructing them.

I'm not worried about this too much. Things will work out, they always do. And not only are lowly people like this dealt with in due time, they're brought to shame.

In fact, we have a pretty good relationship with the owner, he trusts us because we're good tenants. He told us he didn't really care for some of the people living here and said he might tell them to move out. Telling him about this will surely reaffirm his thoughts. And if that punk ass girl (who can't be older than I am, probably younger) gets kicked out, that solves the problem, and gets rid of those seedy looking gang bangers she lets live there.

I swear, she has like a new guy there every week.

I joked about it with my mother and called them the "flavor of the month".

And them my mother says "more like the flavor of the week, or day!"

LOL! ^__^

 

[ShadowTklr]

The Police are not in the business of setting up video cameras to surveil private property, so you're not going to get any satisfaction there. However, I think the camera idea is a good one. Go to your local BJ's, Costco, Radio Shack or small electronics store, and purchase a camera kit with a monitor. They're not terribly expensive, ($200-$350) and they will accomplish the same thing. Other options would be to use an old video camera with Time Lapse functionality placed somewhere in the garage and hidden by a draped garment or something, or hire a private investigation company and they will use their equipment. Then you can take the tape to the police yourself.

If none of those things are an option for you, I recommend increased prayer. Perhaps God can intervene a little sooner and save you some money. 😉

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

We don't have that kind of money to invest into something we know is going to be over soon.

Lets just say the Force is strong in my family. No joke. God answers our prayers, always. I'm sure the solution has already been worked out in advance and its just a matter of the pieces falling into place. Theres no justice like divine justice.

"Why then did you make this thread?" you might ask. Well, I was pretty mad at the time, and wanted someone to share in my anger, perhaps even share personal experiences of this nature. We already have the solutions, I just wanted to talk about it and vent.

 

[ShadowTklr]

We don't have that kind of money to invest into something we know is going to be over soon.

Lets just say the Force is strong in my family. No joke. God answers our prayers, always. I'm sure the solution has already been worked out in advance and its just a matter of the pieces falling into place. Theres no justice like divine justice.

"Why then did you make this thread?" you might ask. Well, I was pretty mad at the time, and wanted someone to share in my anger, perhaps even share personal experiences of this nature. We already have the solutions, I just wanted to talk about it and vent.

I'm glad to hear that the answers are forthcoming. Its good sometimes just to vent through your feelings. 😎 I'm sure things will work out like you said.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Has something like this ever happened to you?

 

[kis123]

Celtic,

I've lived and am living a similar nightmare. The first time was four years ago. It was after I moved from my sister's house to my own place. The neighborhood leaves much to be desired and it was the first time I ever lived on my own. Me and my kids were going to go for our own. I lived in a two family house with a woman named Mary, her three kids, and her boyfriend.

Mary was a pig who lived under piles of clothes and plates of food. She worked three jobs while Chester did nothing (he had the brain capacity of a split pea). Half the time, the kids were home alone and kept noise 24/7. Plus, her kids fought with just about every kid in the neighborhood. They would start fights, steal, and wreak havoc everywhere. Even worse, her kids are biracial, and my daughter is biracial. When the kids would get into trouble, people would assume my daughter was one of them. One day, I stood in the middle of the street loudly informing the neighborhood who my daughter was just so she could go out and play in peace.

Mary had pets, not the type we're used to like dogs, cats, fish or birds. But they were brown and had several legs. It took me nearly three years to get rid of the bugs she left behind. She had ran the previous tenant out of there with her filthy ways. I have never known another individual who has lived in such squalor!

Now, I live in another two family for about three years. There have been four families living downstairs since I've been here. This new family is off the friggin' chain! They have two kids, 6 & 4 years old. The oldest has the most disrespectful mouth I've ever heard for someone so young. Her little brother is the child from hell!! He wakes up screaming, he leaves home screaming, he comes home screaming, and goes to bed at night screaming.

The wife has a big SUV that she doesn't know how to drive!! She runs over my trash cans, then moves the cans to the backyard. I refuse to go back there! My garbage cans have always been at the side of the house, and that's where I want them to stay. I make them bring the cans out to the lawn. If they don't want to take out my trash, then leave my cans where they're supposed to be! If not, I won't go get them from the backyard.

Last month, they threw a party with about thirty people. Think they bothered to tell me about it? I came home to two yards full of kids everywhere. I accidentally bumped one of their cars while trying to squeeze my truck in the only parking space on the entire street. The kids went wild saying I damaged the car. They put on quite a show, I tell you. I can't wait until Christmas-I'm sure they'll have fifty people over then. See for them, this is like they live in a penthouse. Their relatives think this is like upstate NY or something! It's an okay neighborhood, but I've lived in better neighborhoods.

Winding up a very long story, I know how it feels to be stuck living with losers. I've been unemployed for awhile and had to spend my moving money, so it may be awhile before I can move away from here. My landlord seems only interested in the rent because he knows those kids are destroying the property. I hate to go outside and discover what they destroyed. They were hanging off the address plate in front of the house! I've seen better behavior out of zoo animals!!!😡 😡 I personally feel your pain, and I'm venting as well. I hope I can afford to buy my own home before summer.

Sorry about the long post. I guess this affected me more than I initially thought.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

No need to apologize to me or anyone for ANYTHING, my friend.

Actually, compared to your situation, I'm no one to talk, its small peanuts compared to what you're going through.

My neighborhood is a good, quiet neighborhood, and theres different ethnic groups living here. So for me its not a neighborhood issue, its just that I happen to live in the same appartment complex as a rotten person and her rotten, seedy friends.

For all I know, they could be stealing again from us right now. And I'm sure not going to go out there right now without something to protect myself with, its dark out right now. I'm not afraid, but those people she hangs with and lets stay there and squat are trouble and if they're out there right now, they'd probably jump me if I caught them in the act. You can see it just by looking at them. Some of them look like they came right out of prison, which is funny because they aren't much bigger than me, and they aren't muscular or anything. The guy she was walking with the last time was a shorty, I was taller than him.In fact, they look rat-like in appearance, they're all grubby and unkept and they look like they're on something. And she does too. Yeah, she may be young and slightly attractice, but she's aged terribly and she looks like she's strung up and high on something too. She look like shit.

God only knows what they do in that house, but I'm sure its illegal. Whats it called? Aiding and abaiting or something like that? When you help out a criminal and house them? Thats what she does, because she's always paranoid looking and I already told you about that incident when I took out the trash.

The law catches up with people like her though, and the ones I care the most about is her child and her mother's children (the mother does not live there nor take care of her own children). From what I understand the mother took off with some guy and she only comes around to visit about once a week.

Its the children I feel sorry for. Being amongst these strangers and the dangerous environment they present. And yet, the children don't seem traumatized by it, its settled into them as a way of life. I already told you that the cops have been down here to take the children from her because of some guy she was letting stay there, but so far, and I don't know how, she's mangaged to evade them, and she wasn't home when they came by the second time. They couldn't take the kids the first time because they didn't have the proper backup or child transport or whatever or she didn't anyone to take the kids for a while. Since then she's been laying low.

Yeah, stealing my stuff by breaking my garage or having her friends pr children do it..thats laying real low. Well, things are going to change and things are going to be as they should be.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

God has revealed the truth of the matter to us today using the very people that live in the appartments to do it.

Get this, we called the owner, and guess what, it turns out that the girl in that appartment was told to leave some time ago and that she has until the 1st, thats just two day from now, to get out. She already has the eviction notice.

Anyways, thats not all. We called the cops after the owner agreed with us in filing a report, and the cop came down, got our story, looked our garage, etc., and then the people that just moved in to the appartment next to us came out and it was revealed that they TOO were stolen from by whomever was doing this stuff. It turns out they reported it to the cops already and to the owner.

They had more stuff stolen than we did! Like three computers, and misc. stuff. They got their stuff back though because they could see the hole in their wall (which was obvious when we saw it) and they could see the computers and stuff in the garage of the girl we suspected did all this crap!

But heres the twist, that guy she was letting stay there, he's the one that was doing it, and that means he did it to them right after they moved in. While thats not a shock to know it's him, it does put the dumb broad in a compromising situation. And guess what else, one of the guys she's letting stay in the house, he was driving through the back alley as I was talking to the officer, and the officer stopped him and apparently already knew who this punk was, he was only like 18. He froze up, answered the questions and went to the appartment. The cop then told me he's been watching this kid and is just looking to catch him actually doing something because he knows he's doing stuff in the area but he just can't prove it. So thats another loose end sort of tied up.

The main thing is the people next to us got their stuff back, its never going to happen to anyone that lives here again, the owner is already working on getting people over to fix the walls, and the dumb punk broad ( I don't normally call women this, but she's not exactly a woman now is she?) has to move out on the 1st!

Now thats justice!

The only thing is, you know how these legal things are, she'll probably fight it, and she won't actually be out of there for another 6 weeks. Thats bullshit, but oh well, she HAS to leave eventually, and push will eventually come to shove if she doesn't start cooperating with the police and the owner. What gets me about this is that she's just a stupid, uneducated druggy and the low-life scum she was letting stay there are no better than her. The whole reason they probably stole from people is to either pawn the stuff for some quick cash once her ass is on the street, or its drug money.

Either way, its sickening to know that people like this get rights and that she can actually be stubborn about this and try the system even further. I wonder whats going to happen to her. Not only was she doing illegal things that the owner seems to know about and reported, but she's connected with these roberies. Reality tells me she won't be serving much jail time, if at all. Hell, jail is better for her anyways. She'll get fed there, and she can't do anything bad, and all she has to do is sit there. How's that any different from what she probably does now? She's also safe there and can't get strung up and will have the time to try and rethink her life.

Whatever though, she'll be out of our lives soon enough and things will be as they should.