This will sound like a "story"... a made up, "hair on fire" TV scenario, but it's true... and just happened on Saturday night... Freaky Friday was the 12th... and this happened on Saturday night.
We have lived in our gated senior community for 10 years, and I don't recall a single crime, except for a mailbox knock-down in 2008.
Our best friends live two houses away, and were gone this weekend (Fri. thru Mon.)
Saturday night, with a touch of insomnia, I decided to take a walk around the block, about 1 AM (Sunday)... Everything shuts down here, and there are likely to be no cars at all, for hours at a time... even during the day. But this was nighttime... I was surprised to see a patrol car circling the block. This is very unusual.
This morning, as we were going to the store, I saw our HOA president, standing in the driveway of my friends (on vacation)...
"What's up?"
My friend's house had been vandalized. The acrylic siding and a cement stoop had been spray painted with filthy words, and our HOA president was awaiting the police.
.......................................................
So today, I remembered this thread and thought about what could have happened.
FYI... the Illinois statute on criminal liability for damages... In this case, looks like the damages will exceed the limit.
Criminal Damage to Property – Class 4 Felony
The charge you face will be a Class 4 felony if the damage is more than $300 but less than $10,000, or if the damage is committed against a school, place of worship, or to farm equipment and is valued at less than $300. A Class 4 felony can carry up to 1 to 3 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.
......
and so I thought... what if?
Imagine... a trip to the station house... not even a wallet in my pocket, and me in my shorts and pajama top. One call. What's the number? Is the one call to "Information"... what next? To my own house to my DW?... Then what would she do?
Yes... a funny thread, and some good answers... Just a weird coincidence that made me decide to:
1. Keep my wallet on me at all times.
2. Keep my son's number on top in the picture slot.
I haven't even been inside a police station since 1965... visiting a drunken friend. No rush to check it out...