New Era Park Neighborhood Association

Beware of Things That Go Crash in the Night !

Mar 06, 2000

-- Anonymous

It was a cold, dark night in late December. Suddenly the stillness of the night was broken by the sound of shattering glass. I was momentarily frozen in my seat. Every nerve in my body was tingling.


No, this is not a cheesy mystery, but a recounting of events that occurred that night and in the subsequent days. The events are still a mystery to us.


Our mystery began on the night of December 28,1999. My spouse, being an early riser, had gone to bed. I remained up watching TV. A few lights were on throughout the house. Suddenly, a shattering of glass resonated through the house. Our two dogs, who yap at everything that passes by, were too surprised to bark. My spouse was instantly awake and hurried forth from the bedroom. After adjusting to the initial shock, our first thought was that someone had thrown a rock at our window. We quickly moved aside the Christmas tree and were confronted by the broken remains of the center pane of our bay window. Peering through the jagged window frame, we saw a young woman standing on the sidewalk looking back at us. She was wearing a baseball cap, flight jacket, dark slacks, and combat boots.
The woman said a man walking by had wrapped his jacket around his hand, reached up and broke the window. He then removed the jacket and looked to be sure he had not cut himself. Apparently satisfied, he proceeded to walk north up the street. The young woman, who became known to us as Kay, said she would give a description of the man to the police. We asked Kay to come in the house so that we could wait for the police to arrive. She was personable and respectful; someone we felt we could trust.


We dialed 911 and were told by the dispatcher that the incident was not life-threatening, so we would have to wait our turn. Then we phoned our daughter who lives down the street, and she came over. Our daughter chatted with Kay while we cleaned up the shards of glass, looked for something to cover the broken window, and watched for the arrival of the police. As we cleaned, we mused over the puzzle of why someone would break our window. Kay said, "Maybe the person who did it was angry and the window was the first thing he spotted to break."


Kay asked to use our bathroom and we obliged. She returned to the living room and continued to wait with us for the police. A half hour had passed and still no police. Kay said she couldn?’t wait any longer. After exchanging first names and phone numbers, we walked her to the front door. Kay promised to let us know if she heard anything. She couldn?’t wait any longer as she needed to get to a homeless shelter and find cover for the night. Before leaving she turned and said, "God bless you."


Earlier, the task of cleaning had preoccupied us, but now our intuition finally alerted us that something was wrong. We looked around to be sure nothing was missing. Everything seemed to be in order. Shortly thereafter the police officer arrived and took the report stating that since nothing was missing, it appeared to be an act of vandalism. He advised us to install an alarm system, took one last look around and the left. We secured the broken window, bid our daughter goodbye, and went to bed.


As I started to head out the door the next morning, I reached for my purse and keys. They were not in their usual spot. After a quick search, my suspicion was that Kay had taken them on her trip to use the bathroom the night before and had stuffed them in her jacket. Filled with dread, I looked outside. To my amazement, my car was still parked out front.


During the next few days, we set about securing our home by having the window repaired, new locks put on the front and back doors, and an alarm system installed. I reconstructed my identity with a new driver?’s license, credit cards, and checkbook.


Late at night on January 1, a knock on the front door awoke me. Lo and behold, Kay was standing on the doorstep. I cracked open the door and blurted, "You stole my purse! I?’m calling the police!" Kay tried to explain that she had found my purse in a garbage can at an apartment complex. I wanted none of her lies and told her to put the purse on the porch and leave. Retrieving my purse, I discovered that the only items missing were my keys and a few dollars from my wallet.


As we told our experience to various neighbors, it came to light that Kay was no stranger to the area. She had been making a nuisance of herself by panhandling and giving hard-luck stories to several people. In fact, she continues to be seen in the neighborhood traveling on foot and bicycle.


We count ourselves lucky to have had no harm done to family or pets. Never again will we let a stranger into our home, no matter how innocent or trusting they look. Yet the events of that night still mystify us. We wonder if it was Kay alone who broke out window, or if was she working with an accomplice. Did she steal the purse only to return it a few days later in the hopes of getting a reward? Why wasn?’t our car stolen when she had the keys? Why was our home the target? Why did she bother to give us a disconnected phone number?


We may never learn the answers to our mystery, but we did learn a valuable lesson.