Drama!

Last night around 11pm we heard a woman scream. We had just finished watching an episode of 'Lie to Me' and were getting ready for bed, I was upstairs journal writing and Matt was downstairs on the computer. Both of us went to the window to see what was up. I didn't see anything other than my reflection and dark gardens, so I went back to my journal writing. Matt, however, saw what looked like a man trying to force his way into a house across the road. He came upstairs, grabbed our shotgun and went outside. He saw a car pull up and a man run from the car into the house through the open door, at which point he came back inside instructing me to call 911 and tell them that we'd heard a scream and had seen a man trying to break into the house across the road. He went back outside and crouched with his gun at the corner of our yard in a position that afforded him an unobstructed view of the house and from which he could confront the men if he heard any more screams or sounds of violence. He watched as the car he'd seen turned around and backed into the drive way. At which point he returned inside to get the phone so that he could talk to the 911 operator himself and returned outside to the position at the corner. I turned off the lights in the room and stood at our glass patio doors, watching the events through a narrow gap in our curtains.

A police car arrived and drove past the house before turning around and moving back towards it. The car that had been backed into the driveway slowly drove out and Matt shouted "Hey! Hey! Hey! Officer!" as the car sped away. The officer took off after the car, turning on the lights and the siren.

Since it was only the driver who sped away, Matt called 911 again to let the police know that burglars were still at the house and to send more officers. He stayed crouched at the corner of our yard watching the house. A few minutes later the porch light went off at the house and Matt returned to turn off our porch light as well, so that his vantage point was also in shadow. A man came out of the house and went to one of the cars in the driveway, he checked it out for a few minutes as another man followed him looking like he was carrying some things. The car was opened and both men moved to and from the house trying to stay in the shadows as much as possible. Another police car pulled up and the men hid in the shadows of the porch for a few moments before taking off around the side of the house and escaping through the backyard with Matt shouting. The officer in the car got out and flashed her light around, trying to see where they had gone but they had already run far enough away to avoid detection. In just a few minutes there were police cars everywhere and the street was lit up with blue lights.

Matt spoke with the officers at length and here are some details we didn't see. The lady who lives at the house with her 2 sons (15 and 9) had returned home from work and as she left her car, two men ran from either side of the house ran at her, putting a gun to her head. They demanded the keys to the car and told her to unlock the front door of the house which her son had barred. After entering the house, the lady's 15 year old son made a rush at the men and was punched in the face, knocking him down. All three were taken into a back room and bound with duct tape as the men started to ransack the house, trying to steal, along with other things, a TV and X-box.

The car that took off, crashed soon after with the driver escaping, though the police believe they know where he is.

Luckily no one was seriously hurt in the ordeal, just a little shaken up.

With Matt gone at various times for various amounts of time, this does not inspire the feeling of safety in his absence. We do have a few precautions in place though. Mace - check. Shotgun - check. Security system armed at all times - check. Heavenly Angels watching over us - check.