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elfsDamn. Remember when I had the arborists out at my property to cut down a couple of trees that were threatening the house?
The day before that we'd had one of their people come out and scout the property. One of the things I tried to do was contact the neighbor and tell him what we'd be doing. The tree's bases were on the "unimproved" portion of his land, after all, although since they were threatening my property I was within my rights to get an emergency contract.
The contractor, Omaha, and I walked along the footpath through the woods to the neighbor's house, which was deeper and more isolated from his slowly suburbanizing surroundings. Omaha and I knew that the neighbor had left for Idaho and fishing season, but we didn't know when he'd be back, so it was worth the effort to see if he was around. As we did, we came upon a beat-up Ford Bronco, and two shady-looking men, one with a ragged thick mustache, jumping on something in the back of the Bronco.
Omaha and I have had to chase homeless people camping out in the forest before. We've even done it already once before this summer. Mustache stared at the three adults, his eyes wide. Then he and his buddy got into the Bronco and tore hell out of there. In the back of the truck, we saw a dirtied ATV. That's another problem we've had in our neighborhood-- assholes tearing through the "unimproved" and sometimes the streets on dirt bikes.
We put it out of our minds. None of us got the license plate. They were gone, problem solved. The neighbor's in his mid-70s, and lives quietly in the woods. He wasn't back yet, so we started back to my house. Along the way, we saw a pile of new stuff left in the woods-- including a pretty nice bicycle. Omaha and I reasoned the shady pair may not have been here to ride, they were here for illegal dumping. So we called the cops.
The cops said it looked like a straightforward illegal dump, not a dump of stolen goods. They couldn't take a report from us, just the neighbor, who wasn't home. Oh, well.
The neighbor came back today. We told him about the trees, and he was happy we'd done the work, he'd been getting worried about those old alders himself. We also told him about the homeless people we'd shoo'd out, and the two guys with the Bronco.
It turns out he'd been robbed. That had been his ATV. That and his dirt-bikes, and all of his tools.
Damn, I really wish I'd gotten that license plate.
The day before that we'd had one of their people come out and scout the property. One of the things I tried to do was contact the neighbor and tell him what we'd be doing. The tree's bases were on the "unimproved" portion of his land, after all, although since they were threatening my property I was within my rights to get an emergency contract.
The contractor, Omaha, and I walked along the footpath through the woods to the neighbor's house, which was deeper and more isolated from his slowly suburbanizing surroundings. Omaha and I knew that the neighbor had left for Idaho and fishing season, but we didn't know when he'd be back, so it was worth the effort to see if he was around. As we did, we came upon a beat-up Ford Bronco, and two shady-looking men, one with a ragged thick mustache, jumping on something in the back of the Bronco.
Omaha and I have had to chase homeless people camping out in the forest before. We've even done it already once before this summer. Mustache stared at the three adults, his eyes wide. Then he and his buddy got into the Bronco and tore hell out of there. In the back of the truck, we saw a dirtied ATV. That's another problem we've had in our neighborhood-- assholes tearing through the "unimproved" and sometimes the streets on dirt bikes.
We put it out of our minds. None of us got the license plate. They were gone, problem solved. The neighbor's in his mid-70s, and lives quietly in the woods. He wasn't back yet, so we started back to my house. Along the way, we saw a pile of new stuff left in the woods-- including a pretty nice bicycle. Omaha and I reasoned the shady pair may not have been here to ride, they were here for illegal dumping. So we called the cops.
The cops said it looked like a straightforward illegal dump, not a dump of stolen goods. They couldn't take a report from us, just the neighbor, who wasn't home. Oh, well.
The neighbor came back today. We told him about the trees, and he was happy we'd done the work, he'd been getting worried about those old alders himself. We also told him about the homeless people we'd shoo'd out, and the two guys with the Bronco.
It turns out he'd been robbed. That had been his ATV. That and his dirt-bikes, and all of his tools.
Damn, I really wish I'd gotten that license plate.
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G
Date: 2011-10-08 03:18 am (UTC)"The cops couldn't take a report from us, just the neighbor, who wasn't home. Oh, well."
Try that line out on the Watch Commander and see what he thinks of it. Baloney.
Re: G
Date: 2011-10-08 04:38 am (UTC)Re: G
Date: 2011-10-08 05:28 am (UTC)We didn't know about the theft until after the neighbor was back. :(
Re: G
Date: 2011-10-08 06:22 am (UTC)I've had an officer attempt to not take my report for my credit card being used by an unknown person. He tried to stonewall me for half an hour, in an empty precinct, on a Monday night. Some cops don't want to bother to do any work.