So apparently my apartment was broken into this weekend. I’m not home, though. I’ve been visiting my mom for the last four days and we got a call from my maid who comes in weekly. She found the door ajar, my computer on the floor, and the kitchen counter empty (when it had previously had lots of food and books on it). Callie, my cat of six years, was also gone. : / But with the door having been open like that for who knows how long, that’s no surprise. She wasn’t an outdoor cat and the few times she was outside before, she’d often lose her way and get lost easily. I fear I won’t be seeing her again.
So anyway, I still haven’t been there but am returning tonight. I’m not altogether sure I want to stay there again. It’s a pretty scary and unsettling feeling knowing someone broke into your house and was there without you knowing, doing anything they wish, etc.
I’m very tempted to move out asap, into another apartment now…although my lease doesn’t end until April. Are break-ins just cause for breaking a lease, though? I mean, I seriously will feel very unsafe there forever after now.
Interesting thing: Like I said, my computer was on the floor, but the maid said she picked it up, plugged it in, and that it turned on…so it might still work. We’re left wondering why whoever broke in left it. Take the food, take books, but leave the computer? :dubious:
Anyway, what’s anyone’s (unfortunate) experience with this? How did you deal with it? Was it hard to settle down and back into the place? I think I’ll keep expecting someone to break in while I sleep now, them thinking I’m gone again. Ease my mind, maybe? And any advice to what I do now> Thankfully I don’t OWN anything of value much (only things that mattered to me was my computer and cat)…but it’s still very unsettling. I don’t look forward to returning there tonight. I’d much rather move out as soon as I can now.
I’m sorry this happened to you…it was always a fear of mine at my last apt; it was a ground floor unit and I had 2 cats. I just want to say don’t give up on Callie just yet. Cats don’t usually go far if they are not used to going outside. Mine got outside once and I could not find him for a night and part of the next day. Turns out he was under a bush right outside. Do a very thorough search under any nearby vegetation or hiding places. Don’t have any further advice but do sympathize!
Well, as it turns out, my maid must be losing her mind. I got here about an hour ago and my apartment was fine. Nothing was missing, everything was as it was, and thankfully my cat is still here. Methinks the cat may have just knocked the computer monitor over. As for the open door, no idea why she said it was like that…if it was, nobody came in.
My one time burgled was in Honolulu during my first semester of grad school, when I lived in an apartment off campus in the Makiki area. Second floor walk-up. I was in the shower when I was burgled!
Yep. It was about 6am or so, a little earlier I think. Still dark. I heard the front door slam as I got out of the shower. The burglar must have heard me turning off the water. Stepped out to look, and a window lattice was leaning against the wall. The burglar had apparently taken it off, reached in and unlocked the front door! :eek: I was a poor student who did not have much to steal. He did take my wallet out of my pants, which were in my bedroom.
A lady living downstairs said she saw a man running down the stairs and away. The police didn’t seem very interested. I asked if there were many burglaries in the area, and they said not a one, this was the first in ages. They seemed to imply there was more to the story than I was telling. Dicks.
I asked the landlord to install the type of deadbolt I’d had before in Albuquerque, where you can lock the door on the inside and take the key away, but he said those were illegal in Hawaii. Seems you can’t have a door you have to hunt for a key to unlock from the inside. Or so he said. Makes sense I guess, in case of fire, but I wanted one! Installed the other kind of deadlock. Moved out after that semester, as I’d gotten a job that required me to live on campus.
Oh, and I realized later that I had heard him removing the window lattice. I had put on the coffee, then headed for the shower. But I heard a little clinking noise and went back out to look. I didn’t see anything amiss so went and took my shower. That must have been him starting to remove the lattice, and he stopped when I came back out.
