Where I have mostly lived for the last two years, my neighborhood - especially now that the dog owners have been forced out - is very quiet. I have a courtyard area with tables/chairs, a breezeway area with tons of stuff in it (completely fenced in but easily accessible), and a lounge/chairs/pillows on the front porch, but nothing has ever been taken. The worst thing I ever had was a couple of beer bottles left overnight on the table in the courtyard. A former neighbor a few houses down used to have weekly backyard parties, and I am sure one of the attendees stopped for a break in my courtyard on the walk home and drank some beer. No big deal. That's the worst thing I have had to my property here in two years.
Two nights ago (late Sunday night), I pulled into my driveway at around 12:20 am. I fell asleep around 1 am. I have three cars and only two garages, so I leave one vehicle in my driveway. Having left a car outside here for almost two years, I have never had an issue. I went out to my car yesterday morning and noticed that one of my hoses had been unraveled from the box it is kept in and dragged out near the sidewalk. I thought that was odd. I assumed one of two things: 1) the deer who make nightly stops in my courtyard to munch on a fruit tree dragged it out 2) the lawn people came earlier than usual and just forgot to wind the hose back in the box.
Then, when I got to my car parked outside, I saw that my side view mirror had been pushed all of the way back. Still, I was naive enough to briefly think a deer may have ran into it at night while running out of the road. A second later, I saw that my driver door handle was broken. While still attached, somebody had violently tried opening it and broke it to the point that the door can't be opened from the inside or outside.
I then noticed that the windshield wiper on the back of my car was pointed directly out and bent to the point that it is broken. I saw that the glass cover on the fog light in the front was kicked/cracked. After getting in my car and starting it to make sure everything else was alright, my TPM (tire pressure monitor) warning light came on- first it said that my rear left tire was low, then it said that the TPM monitor was malfunctioning. I looked at the tire and it seemed to have enough air in it. I called the police, filled out an online report, and then took the car to put air in the back tire. I drove another car the rest of yesterday to see what the tire would do. Thirty minutes ago, I just went out to the car for the first time today. The tire is flat, so obviously the person who vandalized my car also did something to the tire. Clearly, even though somebody broke the door handle trying to get into the car, it wasn't a case of somebody trying to steal things. A thief isn't going to do all of the other stuff and make noise/draw attention. It was clearly a drunk person who did it.
This is where it gets interesting:
While I was just out there inspecting my car again, I saw a well-dressed young guy walking around near my backyard (my house extends long in the back and has about 50 yards between the next house and mine). He approached me while I was looking at the damage to my car and asked if I had seen a wallet in the area yesterday or today. I hadn't seen one, and he went on to explain why he was there.
He works and lives about 20 minutes away in another city and is on his lunch break. He had his work ID badge on (I believe it was from a hospital). He was in business casual clothes and was a legit guy - he wasn't scummy or a bullshitter. He said he just went through a divorce, came up here for Saturday and Sunday night to get away from the divorce and stay with friends, and by his own words, "was inebriated" two nights ago (which makes it Sunday night). Sometime early Monday morning, he left his friend's house and called an Uber. He doesn't remember much from that night. While he believes he was looking for his Uber, a neighbor of mine (which I need to find out which one) called the police to report a drunk guy walking/sitting right next to where my driveway is (according to the police log I just read online). This was the drunk guy. He said the police charged him with public intox and made him stay the night in jail. However, he had no identification on him when arrested, so he came up on his lunch break to see if he lost his wallet in the area where he was found sitting down by the police (right next to my driveway). I told him that I didn't find a wallet, but I explained why I was out looking at my car and showed him the damage that happened two nights earlier. He apologized . . . said the last thing he remembers from that night is eating at a restaurant with his friends. I apologized in advance but basically accused him and told him that it was way too coincidental that I've had cars in my driveway for two years here, never had an issue, then the night a guy happens to be arrested for public intox sitting next to my driveway (on a night he can't remember anything that happened) is the same night that my car is vandalized. He promised that he had no recollection whatsoever of that night. He said he very well could have done the damage but that he just doesn't remember it. At that point, he kept saying "Yeah, it was Friday or Saturday night, right," which I noticed was a change from his original comment that it was two nights ago. I told him it was two nights ago, like he originally said his incident was from, and then he said he really couldn't remember which night it was.
I showed him fingerprints all over my car and lied to him by saying that the police came yesterday and lifted them off of my car (which they didn't do). I told him it would take them two weeks to get the results back from the lab. I asked him if he was fingerprinted when they took him in, which he was. He then asked if there was any way - assuming the fingerprints (which weren't really taken) implicated him - that he could pay for all of the damage and not have the police involved. He offered to give me his cell number and work phone. I told him that once I heard back from the police about the fingerprints, they will ask if I want to press charges. He basically said he'd do anything possible to avoid having me press charges, his public intox was the first arrest in his life, that he has a really good job and just went through a divorce, and that he simply made a bad decision by drinking way too much. He said he was nervous just standing there talking to me and isn't a bad person.
He gave me the officer's name who found and arrested him. I have left a voicemail for that officer. I am 99.9% sure that this guy is the one who caused the damage. It's just way too coincidental. I found his arrest on my block the same night, and the street my driveway/garages are on has very, very little foot traffic . . . especially between 1 am and 8 am. I found his arrest report online which shows he was arrested early Monday morning (late Sunday night) which verifies it being the same time my car was damaged.
How far do I push it? Will the police be able to do anything about it without any solid evidence? I haven't gone to the BMW dealership yet, but I am guessing the door handle, glass cover, wiper, new tire, and tire monitor (one of them was ripped out from inside the wheelwell) are easily going to cost me $1500+.
No problems for two years parking in my driveway. The night a drunk guy is found sitting next to my driveway late at night and is arrested is the same night my car is vandalized by a drunk. If the police don't have enough to press charges, do I push this guy (he is 28 and by all accounts seems like a respectable guy) to pay for the damages being assured he did it?
Two nights ago (late Sunday night), I pulled into my driveway at around 12:20 am. I fell asleep around 1 am. I have three cars and only two garages, so I leave one vehicle in my driveway. Having left a car outside here for almost two years, I have never had an issue. I went out to my car yesterday morning and noticed that one of my hoses had been unraveled from the box it is kept in and dragged out near the sidewalk. I thought that was odd. I assumed one of two things: 1) the deer who make nightly stops in my courtyard to munch on a fruit tree dragged it out 2) the lawn people came earlier than usual and just forgot to wind the hose back in the box.
Then, when I got to my car parked outside, I saw that my side view mirror had been pushed all of the way back. Still, I was naive enough to briefly think a deer may have ran into it at night while running out of the road. A second later, I saw that my driver door handle was broken. While still attached, somebody had violently tried opening it and broke it to the point that the door can't be opened from the inside or outside.
I then noticed that the windshield wiper on the back of my car was pointed directly out and bent to the point that it is broken. I saw that the glass cover on the fog light in the front was kicked/cracked. After getting in my car and starting it to make sure everything else was alright, my TPM (tire pressure monitor) warning light came on- first it said that my rear left tire was low, then it said that the TPM monitor was malfunctioning. I looked at the tire and it seemed to have enough air in it. I called the police, filled out an online report, and then took the car to put air in the back tire. I drove another car the rest of yesterday to see what the tire would do. Thirty minutes ago, I just went out to the car for the first time today. The tire is flat, so obviously the person who vandalized my car also did something to the tire. Clearly, even though somebody broke the door handle trying to get into the car, it wasn't a case of somebody trying to steal things. A thief isn't going to do all of the other stuff and make noise/draw attention. It was clearly a drunk person who did it.
This is where it gets interesting:
While I was just out there inspecting my car again, I saw a well-dressed young guy walking around near my backyard (my house extends long in the back and has about 50 yards between the next house and mine). He approached me while I was looking at the damage to my car and asked if I had seen a wallet in the area yesterday or today. I hadn't seen one, and he went on to explain why he was there.
He works and lives about 20 minutes away in another city and is on his lunch break. He had his work ID badge on (I believe it was from a hospital). He was in business casual clothes and was a legit guy - he wasn't scummy or a bullshitter. He said he just went through a divorce, came up here for Saturday and Sunday night to get away from the divorce and stay with friends, and by his own words, "was inebriated" two nights ago (which makes it Sunday night). Sometime early Monday morning, he left his friend's house and called an Uber. He doesn't remember much from that night. While he believes he was looking for his Uber, a neighbor of mine (which I need to find out which one) called the police to report a drunk guy walking/sitting right next to where my driveway is (according to the police log I just read online). This was the drunk guy. He said the police charged him with public intox and made him stay the night in jail. However, he had no identification on him when arrested, so he came up on his lunch break to see if he lost his wallet in the area where he was found sitting down by the police (right next to my driveway). I told him that I didn't find a wallet, but I explained why I was out looking at my car and showed him the damage that happened two nights earlier. He apologized . . . said the last thing he remembers from that night is eating at a restaurant with his friends. I apologized in advance but basically accused him and told him that it was way too coincidental that I've had cars in my driveway for two years here, never had an issue, then the night a guy happens to be arrested for public intox sitting next to my driveway (on a night he can't remember anything that happened) is the same night that my car is vandalized. He promised that he had no recollection whatsoever of that night. He said he very well could have done the damage but that he just doesn't remember it. At that point, he kept saying "Yeah, it was Friday or Saturday night, right," which I noticed was a change from his original comment that it was two nights ago. I told him it was two nights ago, like he originally said his incident was from, and then he said he really couldn't remember which night it was.
I showed him fingerprints all over my car and lied to him by saying that the police came yesterday and lifted them off of my car (which they didn't do). I told him it would take them two weeks to get the results back from the lab. I asked him if he was fingerprinted when they took him in, which he was. He then asked if there was any way - assuming the fingerprints (which weren't really taken) implicated him - that he could pay for all of the damage and not have the police involved. He offered to give me his cell number and work phone. I told him that once I heard back from the police about the fingerprints, they will ask if I want to press charges. He basically said he'd do anything possible to avoid having me press charges, his public intox was the first arrest in his life, that he has a really good job and just went through a divorce, and that he simply made a bad decision by drinking way too much. He said he was nervous just standing there talking to me and isn't a bad person.
He gave me the officer's name who found and arrested him. I have left a voicemail for that officer. I am 99.9% sure that this guy is the one who caused the damage. It's just way too coincidental. I found his arrest on my block the same night, and the street my driveway/garages are on has very, very little foot traffic . . . especially between 1 am and 8 am. I found his arrest report online which shows he was arrested early Monday morning (late Sunday night) which verifies it being the same time my car was damaged.
How far do I push it? Will the police be able to do anything about it without any solid evidence? I haven't gone to the BMW dealership yet, but I am guessing the door handle, glass cover, wiper, new tire, and tire monitor (one of them was ripped out from inside the wheelwell) are easily going to cost me $1500+.
No problems for two years parking in my driveway. The night a drunk guy is found sitting next to my driveway late at night and is arrested is the same night my car is vandalized by a drunk. If the police don't have enough to press charges, do I push this guy (he is 28 and by all accounts seems like a respectable guy) to pay for the damages being assured he did it?
