In the wee hours of the morning (3:45 am) we were woken up to a loud banging on the front door; hubby and I flew out of the bed and ran to the door, he yelled "Who is it?" so they called back Surprise PD, of course I had to open the door while he went to get dressed. Apparently they were chasing someone who jumped our back wall and ran through our backyard and hopped over the front facing wall before being caught, and they wanted to look in the backyard to make sure he didn't drop anything (I'm guessing drugs/drug paraphernalia and or stolen items). The window to our room faces the backyard and we didn't hear a thing! Sometime during the night the girls made their way into the living room to sleep (why do kids like sleeping in the living room or is it just mine?), which has two large windows and sliding glass door that faces the backyard and they didn't hear any of the commotion out back or out front; there were at least six officers; I didn't catch any names, but one of the female officers had a really nice smelling perfume on (something you woudn't think one would notice considering what was going on and how abruptly we were woken up). Needless to say we all had mini heart attacks being woken up like that LOL!! Glad he was caught and the girls didn't hear the commotion or that might have scared them a bit more. We live in a nice area, and I know crime is everywhere, but you never expect to have a suspect run through your yard in the wee hours of the morning. Has anyone else been startled awake by the police or a frantic neighbor even?
Wow, that's really scary for me reading it! I can't imagine living it!! We had someone try to break in to our home back in November. Thankfully we had just had a new alarm system installed and it went off once they tried opening the basement window (where our girls used to sleep, but we had moved them up to the second floor). We were terrified. I was actually scared to go in the basement for awhile, which stinks because that's where my computer is located! But back to you.....wow! I'm glad they didn't try getting in your home and that your children didn't wake to the commotion. They'll never know and won't be scared tonight when they go to sleep. I'm so glad you and your family were safe and that they caught the person! <3
@Neverland Scraps Having a break-in or a near break-in is so scary, and it leaves you with such a violated feeling!! I'm so glad your alarm worked properly and nobody got hurt!! Did they ever find out who it was?? It would have taken me a long time to go back down there, computer or not That safe feeling takes a long time to get back, been there done that with the first house hubby and I moved into that someone broke into during the middle of the day on a Saturday, while we were out running errands. Hubby and I so glad the girls didn't hear anything; big high five to the the officers on the call for sure!! I sent them a quick Thank You email this morning for everything they did.
No, nothing ever came of it. A few of us had our houses hit. A lady a few streets down woke up to the intruder in her home. Her husband was deployed and her 1-year old was sleeping with her. She rolled over on to/closer to the baby. The guy hovered over her and then left the house without taking anything. As soon as he walked out of her bedroom, she texted 911, but by the time they got there the person was gone. I'm just glad I convinced my husband to invest in our alarm system. We've been married 20-years and never had one. But the Springs isn't the greatest when it comes to safety. So this past summer I told my husband it was time to invest in a system. I went behind his back, ordered everything and got it set up. That was July and in November we needed it. It could have been a totally different story had we not have it. I think from now on, we'll always have a security system regardless of where we live!
Wow! Getting woken up like that would be so frightening. I think we become complacent to crime and what can happen when we feel like we are in a safe area. Seven or eight years ago, we were renting a house that set back off the road. There was a house across the street, but it was unoccupied because the women living there had moved to assisted living. The neighbors on each side weren't actually close. So, our house wasn't visible from any other houses. One day on an odd off day for my husband, we left for a few hours. We came home and our back door had been kicked in. They walked past everything sitting out, including my nice camera, and ransacked our bedroom, taking only jewelry. I didn't have much, because I don't wear much. They took my class rings, some earrings Darren had given me, and a beautiful heirloom necklace given to me before our wedding by a family friend that had a diamond on one side of the pendant and a sapphire on the other side. The police said most likely it was a person on foot who only took what they could carry and there was a good chance they had cased our home to know that we were not there. I never felt safe there again. Maybe two years ago my mom had an escaped convict decide to hide out in a shed on her property. She lives back off the road with no visible neighbors either. It took several hours of having at least twenty cars of police in her yard for it to resolve. She was so incredibly scared. We now live in a neighborhood and there are always neighbors at home around us. I have this sense of safety, but I try so hard not to let myself get too comfortable and to keep notice of my surroundings.
Yikes, that is so scary!! Nothing like that here *knock wood*. But... My kid drives me crazy sleeping in the living room!
Oh my! Nothing like this has ever happened to me. When my hubby and I lived in an apartment complex I remember staying up all night one night watching out our windows at a SWAT team outside the complex next to ours. We still have no idea what was happening. Then one night when we were in Florida a helicopter and police cars were circling the neighborhood we were staying in. Still have no idea what that was about. Where we live now we feel safe.
About two weeks ago, my hubby banged on our bedroom door (he had gotten up earlier with our grandson and locked the door behind him). It scared the you-know-what out of me! I got up and he said that he thought our neighbor had died. He sadly did, but I said, "you don't have to bang on the door - just say my name - I don't sleep that soundly". I told him it scared me to death and he promised never to do that again.
That's just scary - the million thoughts that fly through your head at that moment! We missed a drama in our street a couple of years ago. The kid (now 23 year old) next door is one of the nicest kids you can meet but he has the worst friends to the great despair of his mother... One went literally berserk on Ice one night and Oscar had to escape his house. He knocked here first but we were away so he ended up next door. it's a quiet street here except for the out of control young kids next door - we are hoping they move before they hit their teens because they are going to be wild...
Yikes! That's so scary! I would guess it took you a LONG time to go back to sleep after that! I'm so glad everyone was safe and they caught the guy!
OK, @Timmi I am reading your story and getting goosebumps. The first thought that went through my mind is "did you verify that they were actually police before opening that door????? " If I can't see who is outside my door, I don't open it to anyone---I don't care who they say they are!! When I moved into my apartment, the first thing I had my landlord do was put a peephole into my solid front door. I am so glad everything went ok and your children slept through it. @Scrapping with Liz I don't know what it is about Florida, but we lived in Daytona Beach for 20 years and it seemed the police helicopters were always flying overhead. Here in Michigan, I live in what is knows as the "North Side"---supposedly not the best area, but I love it!! So quiet and have never had a problem, except for the guy across the street that liked to steal packages off peoples porches. We nabbed him quick!!! My security system was my little dog, but sadly I lost her last year. Need to find me another barker!
Yikes - that is very scary! That's a bad time to be suddenly woken by something like that. Glad all is OK. And just so you know my daughter thinks our family room couch is her bedroom. (I hate it!)
I no longer sleep with phone next to my bed, because of the things my kids have been caught doing at night. lol I would rather face it in the morning, with a proper cup of coffee, prayer and good nights sleep. That being said. When my now 19 year old was 17, roaming the streets. He tipped his little moped scooter over, right in front of a cop. Yeah, drugs and alcohol were a factor, and that he was 17. He was living kinda with his older brother, but not a legal guardian. The cops tried calling. They had to have a signature on the form to release him. So, they came pounding at the door with flashlights and such. We slept thru it. My daughters came in and said, someone is outside. My husband got the gun, and the police are very lucky he did not shoot. As they were crazy outside. We tried to have son arrested, but our little town has no holding tank for minors and the PO didn't want to drive him to the town that did. Argh.
A very long time ago when I was with my ex and we lived in a less than desirable neighborhood, we both heard a loud crash, like glass shattering, in the middle of the night and looked outside to see someone breaking into our neighbor's car to steal the sound system. We callled 911, and then my ex had to go outside and tell the police what he saw, identify the guy when they managed to catch him a couple of blocks away, etc. We didn't sleep well for a long time after that.
Yikes! Glad it was a happy ending for you. We were renting a condo when we were first married, and two officers pounded on the door around 1 or 2 a.m. They told us they received a 911 call from our location. We had no idea what the heck was going on, but one officer told us that sometimes the last thing a cordless phone will do before the battery dies is dial 911. Both our phones were on their bases fully charged. Strange. So, about a year and a half ago my phone rings with the police on the caller id. Dispatch said that they received TWO 911 calls from our number, and they were sending officers. Really? Again almost 20 years later? Anyway they came to make sure everything was okay. Remembering the first time, I had my daughter go downstairs and check to make sure the cat didn't knock the phone off the base, but it was on it's base and fully charged. I was worried that somehow the lines got crossed and someone out there needed help and couldn't get through.
Interesting about the 911. About 20 or more years ago I was on my computer about 11 pm when there is a knock on the door. After identifying that it was, in fact, the police, and opening the door, they said that a 911 call came from this house. I told them that I had made no such call but invited them in to look around. He spotted my computer and asked if I had typed in any numbers. I said yes, lots of numbers as I was putting stuff up on eBay to sell. He asked me to check and see if there was a 911 sequence in there anywhere, and sure enough, one of the long numbers I had typed in had a 911 in the middle of it. He said this would have tripped the phone to call 911. What?????? A very common problem many years ago which they have now corrected. But those poor police, he said they made many calls to homes just to find out someone had typed 911 into their computer!
