Hick missed a meeting Saturday morning, due to his Storage Unit Store proprietorship. He's down to only Saturdays and Sundays lately because of his FREE RIDES to medical facilities. He doesn't want to miss out on any $1 profits!
Anyhoo... while proprieting, he got a text from our dog-groomer neighbor across the road. She said a meeting was being convened around 10:00 on the Creach (our creek beach) by Mailbox Row. The subject to be discussed was the recent mail theft problem. She had a package stolen on August 10. I guess that's in addition to the one she had Hick looking for previously.
Anyhoo... somebody had a picture of a suspect and his car, and the license plate. I'm not sure if he's the thief, but it's a car I have seen several times on the blacktop road between the mailboxes and the county lettered highway. I'm out and about between 12:30 and 2:30. That's when I see the car. That's the time frame when the mail arrives.
Anyhoo... Hick doesn't know how we're going to solve this problem. He didn't mention the meeting to me. In all fairness, I would have been in bed or freshly arisen. But my suggestion is that we residents set up a watch party. I know many of us are not working. How hard would it be to schedule 15-20 minute intervals between, perhaps, 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. I would be happy to serve a window.
How hard could it be? Sit in your car parked in the shade by the Creach, and take a picture of any car or person that seems like it's going to stop, and leaves because they see you. Or take a picture of anybody you don't recognize, checking the mailboxes. If they really live here, they'll understand. If not, then who cares if they get mad? Or ask them what road they live on, and see if they give a reasonable answer. For example, the road name at the Creach does not have any houses on it. So if they give that as an address, you'll know they're lying.
The residents with mailboxes over on the other county road have also been experiencing thefts. A couple of them chased a gray Nissan that stopped at their mailboxes at 1:00 a.m., but lost it. ALSO, a couple who live over near those mailboxes had a home break-in. They put up the video of the thief on our enclave's Facebook page. He walked in through the woods, carrying a duffel bag and backpack, wearing a mask, with a baseball cap and a headlamp, and something on his arms that Hick said looked like protection to use when smashing in windows.
This thief was similar to the picture taken in broad daylight at our Mailbox Row, but our guy had no sideburns, and a longer hairline on his neck. They both looked like young dudes in their 20s. It was quite creepy seeing this thief moving around in the dark. I'm guessing that he parked elsewhere, and walked in through the shallow creek, then came in through the woods behind their house. The timestamp on their video was 12:38 a.m.
Huh. I'm always awake at that time, with lights on. In addition, we have the dogs who go crazy at night, baying and galloping around the porch. I'll pay more attention to their antics now. Probably go upstairs and turn on the porch light. Thieves hate that, you know!
Hick says the people who got robbed don't have a dog. Maybe that's what has kept us unrobbed. It would be hard to walk into our yard without the fleabags raising a ruckus.
Dogs are a great deterrent to thieves.
ReplyDeleteYou could put one of those Ring camera things by the mailbox. They send an alert to your cellphone and you can see what is going on plus speak to anyone on the camera. Recordings are saved. A sign saying the box is being observed 24/7 might be deterrent enough.
There's a sign about a hundred feet up the gravel road that says the area is surveilled. Maybe the mail thief doesn't look that far up the road. Or think there's a camera by the mailboxes.
DeleteWe have a game camera, but Hick thinks the thief would steal it. It doesn't call us, though!
Packeage some of your dogs' deposits and let the thief find a gift at the mailbox. People can be so annoying.
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! I actually mailed a package of trash to a person who dumped it out on our road. It was old scratchers and empty snack packages and plastic soda bottles AND JUNK MAIL!
DeleteIt was well worth the postage! Since it was sent by post office, that person would get the orange card to come pick up their package, which was too big for a mailbox. Of course I included a little note about STOP DUMPING YOUR TRASH ON OUR ROAD!
joeh has a great suggestion. I'd recommend the Ring too, and probably some new law enforcement in your area.
ReplyDeleteLaw enforcement out here is the county sheriff's department. Too few deputies to patrol all county roads on a regular basis. We're bigger than Mayberry, and even that was a lot of area for Barney and Andy!
DeleteDoes the RING require electricity? That would be a problem. The game camera works on a battery.
Works on rechargeable battery...last a few months between charges.
DeleteGood to know! I will tell Hick, who can put it on "The Facebook" to see what people think. We chip in for road materials, so I imagine people would do the same for a Ring.
DeleteThe drawback is that any Creacher would set it off when passing by the mailboxes...
Years ago, in the late 80s, our house was the only one in the area that thieves didn't get into because of our dog. He was only a puppy, not quite a year old, big boned German Shepherd, but held them off even when they hit him and the neighbour looked out her window and called the police who called us to come home from work. The thieves had been targeting houses where they knew no one was home between 9am and 3pm.
ReplyDeleteI hope your watch parties are successful and the thieves get caught, not just scared off. Have you informed the police of the break-ins and mail thefts?
OH NO! I hate to think about your poor dog being hit by those ne'er-do-wells!
DeleteThe people who've had stuff stolen have indeed reported it to the police, and turned over any pictures they have of a suspect. Hick thinks the USPS needs to do an investigation. According to him, "They have thousands of people hired to do just that! They could set up a stakeout and watch all day."
Our son and his neighbors started missing things from their cars and sheds. Son got a couple of ring cameras and set them up. They showed two young men walking through yards and then seen leaving carrying loot. They didn't even bother hiding their faces! The police caught them about a week later. I guess they didn't have sense enough to vandalize a different neighborhood up the road.
ReplyDeleteMy son said they'd probably wind up to be more hardened criminals after being in the system. But what do you do!?
Yours wearing the headlamp kinda sounded kinda freaky.
I'm glad they were caught. Maybe it saved them from being harmed by an angry theft victim. You never know.
DeleteThat's what I told him. I do feel for their parents, whom I also want to blame, but can't. It seems sometimes they try to be the best parents we know and still wind up with wayward teens. Wish I knew the answer!
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