Thief! Thief! - The Account of an Attempted Robbery

It was a rainy Sunday morning, May 17 to be exact. It was the kind of rain that makes you sleep deep and comfy, the type of rain that makes you just want to cuddle and sleep in the warmth and comfort of your bed. But for me, that peace was shattered in the wee hours of Sunday Morning at about 3:30. I was fast asleep, deep sleep as I was extremely tired when a loud thud shocked me out of my slumber. What could this be, where did it come from?

Still dazed by the frightening sound I stumbled out of bed to investigate the source of this sound. I checked the front, but all seemed OK, so I headed to the kitchen to ensure that my door was locked properly. I listened, but there was no sound. The only other option was to head into the bathroom to look out at the back porch through the bathroom window. I slowly, steadily and stealthily climbed up on the edge of the tub to look out. As I peered into the dimly lighted back porch a figure manifested itself just before my eyes! He was right in front of me, the only thing separating us was the wall and the blades of the window. It was a thief! A thief had broken into my porch and was about to make his next move to gain entry to my place. At this point I was unarmed, I don't have a gun, and weary from my sleep I hadn't stopped to take up my machete, so all I could do was to shout thief as loudly as I could! I shouted several times, trying to overpower the deafening sound of the night rain, as I dash back to the kitchen, flicked on the light switch for the porch and drew my cutlass and grabbed my phones!

By this time the thief had made a hasty retreat as he knew he was spotted. I desperately tried to get the police, but this was to no avail. I dialed 119, I dialed the number for the constant spring police station but no one answered, the phone rang and rang antagonizing and hopelessly. I called up my neighbours to alert them of what happened, all this time the phone was still ringing of the deaf ears of the police. After about what seemed to be a half hour, someone finally answered 119 and took the report. The police didn't arrive till about another 20 minutes later and just merely asked a few questions went to look at the breached area, and agreed with some of the neighbours who said I should have waited until he was coming in then chop him, then left after a few minutes. Some police, no wonder why the crime rate in Jamaica is so high. When you call them you can't get an answer and when they do finally arrive much later, they are basically of no use.

This ordeal has shaken me up somewhat. Being robbed or experiencing almost being robbed on the street, at a venue or on the road is a rough experience, but when it happens at your home, your safety nest, it takes on a whole new dimension. Things could have been worse, so I am thankful that they weren't. I thought about what some of my neighbours said, that I should have waited and then chopped him, yes that would have been good, because thief fi dead! On the other hand, I only saw one, there could have been more, I didn't know if he too had a machete or worse a gun, so things could have escalated to my detriment. Furthermore, they weren't in the situation, so they can say anything, so even though I wished I had ensured he didn't get the opportunity to thief or attempt to thief again, I'm still grateful to be unharmed and have my belonging intact.

Point of entry

I assume the thief gained entry cutting and/or prying and then hitting out a few bars in the grill. I surmise he thought no one was there, as I had just not long before come home from work a little after midnight and went to bed just after. I told my landlady, who promptly agreed to fix the grill and I finally sourced someone to fix the grill by the Sunday afternoon. The grill people did a shabby work for which they overcharged, but desperate times needed desperate action. One thing though, they knew that they will not get any business from me or my landlady ever again. The repair is a temporary fix though, as the landlady will be reinstalling a new grill as the current one was poorly constructed and will be placing additional ones at the kitchen door and the bathroom window. She carried her grill man to measure the place and from my latest conversation with her, she has paid down the money and the material is to be sourced. Even though the complex is gated, the wall to the back of the complex, which also runs just behind my apartment, is extremely low and has no protective barb wires to deter even the simplest of criminals. Some of the strata committee members have vowed to at least put up some razor wires along the wall, but that is yet to be seen.

I still feel uneasy, especially when I'm about to go to sleep. I am eager for the landlady to finish what she has committed to do so I can feel a bit safer while I sleep. I'm not the first to experience this at the complex from what I know, and I certainly won't be the last. With this in mind I am even thinking of looking for a new place to live, as I work shifts and the complex does not have a security personnel and I have no idea of how soon I will see those razor wires going up... if they will. In the mean time, I give God thanks, pray for protection, will be more vigilant and wary as I come in and keep my machete a little closer to me.