I have a story to tell, and as you can see it is quite long, so stay a while or come back when you can read this . . . . I learned a valuable lesson here
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One Summer Sunday afternoon my husband and I attended a family gathering at a shelter house located in a local park close to downtown Columbus. We arrived with all the goodies and exited our car which was parked about 2-300 feet from the shelter. The shelter had windows from one end of it to the other. It seemed like a nice place to gather as there was a little kitchen area and we were sheltered from any kind of weather. After visting for a short period, we all gathered in a line and filled our plates with the usual wonderful variety of food that arrives at a reunion-type gathering. Everyone then began to visit and kinda clean up and take things out to their cars. I was putting a few things away myself and looked up to see my father walk in the building and very quickly moved towards me with a very grim look on his face. The next thing I heard was dad saying "I think your car just got broken into!" I looked at him with what I am sure was a surprised bewildered look on my face thinking he may be kidding as he likes to do, but then knew he would not kid about something like that! I then said to him, "yeah right" and he repeated again that he observed two Afro-Americans in my car! I instantly was upset and mad as I dashed outside to see if I could observe anything. By that time they had left the area with dad only able to get a partial license tag number. I observed the passenger side of the car where there was damage to the door frame and the entire window had been shattered. Everything had been gone thru and this is where I am very sorry to tell you all, but I had left my purse down on the floor behind the passenger seat where it was out of sight, but neglected to hide my cell phone which I think may have attracted them to break in. After seeing this, I lifted up the back seat and sure enough my purse was gone and cell phone gone - forever. My whole life was in my purse. We had several credit cards, money, driver license, social security card, an extra set of keys to both our vehicles which had our house keys attached, all kinds of phone numbers to be able to trace our work, etc. Needlesss to say, the tears then came after I realized just how much these criminals now knew about me and my life. I had just put a new set of checks in my check book also. We called the police, a theft report was taken and from then on, the police were of little help. They told me these people work in "families". They steal, then sell items to other friends to use once again to take from people. I did not have my pin numbers with my cards, but they were located in another part of my purse and they figured it out as by the time it was over and done with, they had racked up over $4,000 with my credit cards and checks. I stopped payment on everything as soon as we got home. I don't even remember riding home, I was numb and filled with so much anger that I could not see straight. They managed to make only one call on my cell phone which I was thankful for. As the days passed, I was in contact with the police dept daily. The women detective was pretty tired of me by the time it was all over. I then began to make some phone calls myself which led to nothing. For nearly six months I continued to receive letters from collection agencies because my checks had been turned over to them because of a closed account. I had to explain to each one what had happened and I faxed copies of the police report and other papers they needed endlessly week after week so I would not be responsible for this debt. I then experienced problems with these check collection agencies. I found tht not too many people do their job anymore. Papers I faxed never reached the right hands and again I would receive letter after letter wondering why I had not responded. We had the locks changed on the house and on both vehicles. Scared to come home usually for fear I would find the house broken into stayed with me for quite some time. To make this story a little shorter, just be assured that for nearly six months, I went thru hell trying to do all the paperwork this all generated. Please let my lesson be a lesson passed on to you - DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PURSE OR CELL PHONE IN YOUR CAR no matter where it is! Putting stuff in the trunk is not safe either as most of the newer cars have entry to truck once your in the car. So, take heed to my warning here - IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU - our car was parked only a few feet from the building where we were. For about a year I did not carry a purse for fear of leaving it somewhere. I now have gotten beyond that fear somewhat and do carry a purse, but boy am I mindful of where it is at - at ALL TIMES!
Thank you for taking the time to read this . . . . . . . maybe somewhere to
someone I may prevent this happening to you or yours. If that be the case
then my time was well spent on this page ............. Thank You !
Simply ~ Susan ........... |
