Burglary Attempt

[Beech Court]

Last night at 11:45 PM I was sitting in front of my computer. Directly behind me on the opposite side of the room is a window to the fire escape. The window does have a fire safety gate on it, but I had it open and a small fan in the window. I heard a crash and thought the fan fell over. When I turned around the fan was lying down, the screen that was down was now up and I saw a a pair of man's arms on the fan. He was about to move it out of the way and come in!

I did scare him with a LOUD set of expletives. Now the guy was apologizing and trying to hand me a story about not being able to get into his apartment. I did see him and he was no one that I know. And he certainly knew this isn't his apartment. The guy ran up above and disappeared.

I don't know, if he's desperate from Covid economics or if he has an expensive daily habit to support. Both of which are maybe an incentive for burglary. I should also say that the window is quite visible to the outside and in a fairly well lit up place. This may be an isolated incidence or the beginning of a neighborhood rash. Please be vigilant as well as careful!

[r]

Wow I hope you are okay. So they kept climbing up the fire escape afterwards? Did this happen at Beech Court? (76th and 35th?)

[Beech Court]

Other than being rattled by this experience I am fine. Who knows what would have happened if he had come all the way in. Yes he went up and disappeared and that doesn't necessarily mean to another window. I am now better prepared in a legal way. So I wouldn't recommend that he or any of his friends try it again.   

[abcdefghijk]

When I first moved into the neighborhood there was a spate of these type of burglaries.

This is the JH Life thread from that time.

https://www.jacksonheightslife.com/community/index.php?topic=6914.msg42984#msg42984

[Ms. Jackson]

Wow. So glad you are okay.

[Beech Court]

Thank you r, abcdefghijk, Ms. Jackson for your support and help. I am happy to see that this thread has a lot of views. I have been living in this apartment for 28 years, been in the neighborhood since I am 5. I love JH and that is why I am here in it and on this site. The more we can share, even if we disagree at times, the better off we all are. The police are involved. I did see the creeps face and there are cams everywhere over here.

[dssjh]

sorry for the scare, but glad to hear that there could be video evidence to help catch the guy.

[ljr]

Yeah, this is concerning, for sure! We live nearby and will be more careful about locking windows. We also have stoppers on most of our windows--they can only open a few inches unless we release the stoppers from inside. For the ones that don't have stoppers, we will keep them locked and at least we will know that if someone wants to break in they would have to break the window--and we'd hear that for sure. Scary.

[Beech Court]

Thanks dssjh! The cops pointed out the cams to me and said there are cams across the street also. Really it's not the sort of thing I pay attention to. And there is a good reason for that - I'm not into mischief! Just a normal low key person here. So they see me coming and going? Who cares, I have nothing to hide. Now that I see the cams my sense of humor says look up at them and wave hi.

I hope that it makes you feel comfortable as well to know that the cams are there.

Thanks also ljr.

I also want to say that I do not support defunding the police, and held that view before my incident. If there are problematic cops the system needs to be able to identify them and handle that on an individual basis. We need to have them and having less instead of more is not going to help anything at all.

[bellabella]

That is quite scary! Thank god you are ok!  Do you have a description?

[CaptainFlannel]

One bit of advice that I got in college: a baseball bat requires no permit.

[Beech Court]

Thanks Bella & Captain.

Yes I saw his face clearly. The police are sorting through the story and the cams. One step at a time.
I agree a baseball bat is legal. In an ideal world it's not a weapon. I'd rather take it to Travers and play with the kids. But if it means peace of mind at home then so be it.

[JHResident]

One bit of advice that I got in college: a baseball bat requires no permit.

Not quite good advice. You can keep a baseball bat, but if you hit someone with it it's still assault with a deadly weapon. Lock your doors and windows.

[JHALUM]

If they threatened you or displayed a weapon you would probably be OK.  If not, your retaliation might be considered a disparity of force.  It also depends  on the city/state.  Some places consider your home your castle and you have the right to defend it.  In Deblasio's NY I think criminals have more rights now.

[Beech Court]

The way I understand the law - if someone is completely physically in your place and threatens you, you can do what you need to defend yourself and home. In my case since he wasn't completely in if I had somehow harmed him I could be liable. Yes, that is what we are up against.The nebulous part is what do they call a threat? And it would be their word against mine.Weapon or no weapon shown to me their presence is a threat. They didn't just climb through the window for a cup of tea.