So, Christmas Eve we got robbed. Here’s the full story.
Wednesday night, Tamika had a show with The Reality Band, the group she’s been singing with. We were originally going to drive up to Philadelphia that evening after her show; I was going to take a nap, load everyone up, and let them sleep.
We changed our minds at the last minute, though. Tamika came home, wrapped up some presents, and went to bed around 3. She was going to sleep downstairs on the couch and watch TV, but changed her mine and came to bed with me.
About an hour later, our teenaged neighbor Karon came home from a party, saw two European American men on our porch smoking, and noticed the screen off our front window laying in the ground. He figured they were our friends, said hello, and went to bed.
Sometime between then and 8:30, at least two men shoved the front window open and crawled into our house. They unplugged and took our big screen TV, our iPod nano sitting in a stand in the kitchen, went through Tamika’s purse, took her iPhone 2G and her car keys (left her credit cards), and went out the front door, locking the deadbolt behind them.
Outside, they found our Subaru Forester.
They unlocked it, loaded the stuff up, and took off.
Inside, they found my Apple G4 15″ aluminum laptop, and my brand new Canon 7D digital camera, and 4 4GB memory cards (with my name on them), all packed for our trip.
They destroyed my camera bag trying to get the camera out and scattered the contents all over the car. They went through the ashtrays and glove compartments.
They delivered everything wherever they went, then ditched the car up the street from our house, leaving the keys on the front seat, along with the remenants of the camera bag. They left my notebook with the bag, fortunately.
At 8am, we woke up, stumbled down the stairs, and found the tv gone. Then the car, then everything else. We called 911. I threw on some clothes, checked the Zerflin computers, then ran outside. I banged on the Bowrin’s (our neighbors) door. Tamika had already called them.
I spied the car up the street. I started running toward it, then thought better of it. Wait until the cops come.
The Bowrins came pouring out. They were horrified. They took the kids. Tamika was in shock. I was mad. I was beyond mad. I went back in the house.
I went over everything. There was a large handprint on the window where they had shoved the window open. They hadn’t bothered to take over the G4 tower that was sitting behind the TV (I’d been trying to turn it into a DVR for Tamika). And they had never gone upstairs, praise the Lord. And why did they lock the door? Seems so ironic.
20 minutes later, the cop shows up. Young guy (same age as me, I found out), very polite, very understanding. We went to the car, went through it. Drove it back to the house. He questioned me, my wife. He checked the back doors. The windows. Got me to get the serial numbers for everything I could. Assured us that he was going to get everyhing he could. Called for a crime lab. Called for the detective.
The crime lab lady came. Told us she probably wouldn’t be able to find much. Told us everything was dusty. Told us she probably wouldn’t be able to find much. Told us her dust makes things dirty. Told us she probably wouldn’t be able to find much. Wasn’t very reassuring.
The detective showed up. He asked us a bunch of questions. Asked us why we left our window unlocked (one of us must have left it cracked in the summer). Asked us why we didn’t have an alarm system (we do, we haven’t been able to afford it, so we haven’t been setting it). Asked us for a list of everything we lost. Said he wouldn’t be working on the case, but Detective Simpson would be. Checked with the officer and the crime lab lady.
Eventually, they all left. The detective said if we could be as detailed as possible, they would monitor all the local pawn shops for our stuff.
After several hours of sitting shell-shocked, calling everyone, and figuring out what to do next, we decided to head north to Philly.
I’m listing the make and model and serial number of everything I can. If anyone Googles this stuff, I want them to find it here and really want them to read this story.
It’s a long shot, sure, but I figured it’s worth a shot.
- PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.5/1.33GHz) (serial W84180F0QW2), in a black Targus leather laptop case, with retractable ethernet cord and optical mouse. The laptop case is pretty distinct, it’s got two giant stainless steel caribiners and a black leather guitar strap on it.
- Wacom Intuos2 6×8 USB Platinum Tablet
- Canon D7 DSLR (serial 0220104902, Model EOS 7D), brand new, with a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens (serial 5602012730, Model EF28-135/3. 5-5. 6 IS USM). Has an 8GB compact flash Lexar (gold label) card in it with “Benjamin Jancewicz” written on one side. Also probably accompanied by a beat up silver case with 4 pqi (blue label) 4GB compact flash cards in it.
- Yamaha PSR-330 61-Key (Full Size Key) MIDI Portable Keyboard. It was in a badly beat up cloth case with a broken strap. The keyboard itself had a huge crack in it on the right hand side, and also had my name written in silver marker on the battery box cover. The LCD on it did not light up like it’s supposed to.
- Electrovoice N/D267 a/as N/DYM Series wired microphone. Came in a black leather pouch.
- Large camera case full of cords and connectors.
- Silver iPod Nano (Serial # SU6347CHV8T)
- iPhone 2G (IMEI # 011245009754605, SIM Serial # 89014103211398078174), in a black and white rubber case. Has a picture of Arion on the password screen.
- Apple Headphones with Remote and Mic (MB770G/A)
- RCA LCD Flat Panel HDTV 72″ TV (part no. 72-TV5221-E001B).
This has shaken things up.
We’re going move. Our house is worth less than our mortgage, and our bank is unwilling to help us. Tamika’s family is working together some money to help us find a new place.
My job has sliced my paycheck, and we can no longer afford the payments along with everything else we have to pay.
This makes it very very hard on us. The only way we’re making it now, is through the profits from Zerflin.
So, it’s all on the table. And we’re leaving it all up to God.
Thank you everyone for your prayers and willingness to help. We love you all so much…
