LunaV–get an old broomstick, a small saw & a measuring tape. Close & lock the sliding glass door, & measure the length of the metal track between the edge of the doorframe & the nearer edge of the door. Cut the broomstick to match this length,. & lay it in the track of the sliding door. The door cannot be opened from the outside without smashing it.
Leave the stick there. do not use the glass door! Use the regular door.
Holy cow! I’m glad you fought and kicked. It could mean your life. Get a stick in that door!
Glad you are OK.
Don’t beat yourself up too bad over forgetting to lock you door. It happens. Just don’t make a habit of forgetting.
LunaV, I’m so glad to hear you are okay. It sounds as if the series of emotions you are going through is typical. You know, first scared, then pissed and angry, then beating yourself up over not locking the sliding door.
Whatever you did or didn’t do, it wasn’t YOUR fault that the asshole broke in. Forgetting to lock is not “permission to enter”
And I had to learn it the hard way, because almost exactly the same thing happened to me, except that for me he had a knife and, uh, didn’t leave. I called the cops and went to the hospital, but he was never found. An article appeared in the paper warning that women within a certain city area were being attacked(I was #3 and there were eventually three more). Perp never found. After the article appeared in the paper my grandmother called me to warn me to be careful(most of my family didn’t know for a long time) and I said I would be.
Talking to a counselor could help, it was a long time before I did, should have done it sooner.
**Tikki ** and **Bosda ** - I went to the hardware store yesterday afternoon and bought dowels to put in the tracks of the two windows and the sliding door. I bought two of those contact alarms and put them on the front door and the sliding door. I also placed a thick tableloth over half of the sliding glass door so now no one can see inside except for the living room wall (and that’s only if the blinds are open).
Last night was difficult. Even though I knew everything was locked up, the alarms were set and I was safe, it was still hard to close my eyes. It took a while for me to force myself to turn off the lights and go to bed. I kept wondering if there was someone out there just waiting for the lights to go out again.
I slept with a light on. I know it will take a while to get over this. Every day will be better. I’m not going to let this guy ruin my sense of freedom, my independence.
Tomorrow I am going to talk to the apartment manager and ask if I can be let out of my lease early, without penalty. I’m going to bring up the ant invasion that happened a few months ago, the leaking water heater and various other problems, and now this break-in. I just don’t feel safe here, there’s no security anymore. Also the fact that they didn’t let us know there had been other invasions recently by this same guy. I’ll see what she says, and if she can’t or won’t do it, I will look into getting a lawyer. A friend who owns a lot of property advised me to look in the phone book for tenant assistance, or call the local housing court for the best way to get legal aid. I really, really don’t want to spend the next 4 months here.
**Baker ** - I’m very sorry to hear about what happened to you. I can’t imagine what I would be feeling if he hadn’t turned and ran.
Everyone else - thank you very much for your support and hugs and home security tips. I appreciate it more than you know.
LunaV, I hope your apartment manager is reasonable and will let you out of your lease without a problem. My thoughts will be with you again tonight.
Baker, my sympathies for what you went through.
Hugs to you both.
I really do think this is your best bet, LunaV. He knows where you live. Glass doors are easily broken. Even if you can’t get out of your lease, it’s just MONEY. I had a creepy crawly stalker break into my place a couple of times when I was in grad school (and had NO money); it was in the course of a week and I moved out in a day that weekend. I don’t scare too easily, either, but it’s just something you don’t want to f*ck around with. Don’t get your mail forwarded. Make sure nobody’s following you when you drive away. Protect yourself as firmly after the fact as you did during it. Your instincts are great, so trust them. Stay safe and let us know what happened {{hug}}.
Luna,
First off, let me tell you that I – and I’m sure everyone who reads this thread–is very happy that you escaped without any physical harm.
Second, in reference to the sentence I bolded, you DID kick the motherfucker hard enough. He TURNED AND RAN. You’re not Xena or Buffy; it’s not your job to apprehend him. You defended yourself with sufficient vigor so that you were able to write a post titled, “Someone broke into my apartment,” rather than having someone who loves you write a post titled “Someone killed my sister” or “Someone raped my friend.”
Please don’t blame yourself, either for your lapse in judgment in leaving the door unlocked or for not displaying mad ninja skills on that fucking evil selfish motherfucker who broke into your apartment. The only person who deserves any blame is HIM, not you.
And please don’t hesitate to talk to someone if you need to.
Love,
M
Jesus! That is terrifying! I’m glad you’re ok. I was burgled twice in one week (while I was out) and that creeped me out. I don’t know if I’d ever be able to spend another night alone after something like your experience.
And I have a terrible fear that I would be stricken mute in the same situation. You handled it well. Good luck getting out of your lease.
Good news! I spoke with the apartment manager yesterday about everything that’s happened and asked to be let out of my lease without penalty. Today she called me to say she could definitely do that, and I wouldn’t be have to forfeit my deposit or pay anything whatsoever. I’m so relieved! I spent a couple of hours this afternoon calling various apartments in the area to see what they’re offering. I’ll be leaving at the end of the month, so I’m in a bit of a time crunch. If I can’t find an apartment by then, I’ll be able to stay with a family member, but I’d really like to avoid that.
It’s getting easier to sleep at night. I can turn the light off now. I still wake up a few times during the night, but I can turn my back to the bedroom door again.
I spoke with a detective yesterday. She didn’t have anything new to report; we just went over some of what happened and she asked if I recalled anything new. She stopped by earlier while I was at work to check out the area, the lighting and such. She noticed a couple of things I’d done to make the apartment a tiny bit more secure.
One day at a time…it’s getting better.
And Fabulous Creature, thanks for reminding me that I *did *do enough.
That certainly is good news.
Have you told/will you tell the other tennants about everything? At the very least they should know and take precautions. It would suck for management if it became an exodus, but that’s what you get for not being up-front with people to begin with.
Good luck with the move.
You’re welcome.
I’m still evil, though. Right?
We’ll all think of you as nothing but depraved, I promise.
This is neither mundane or pointless, good luck LunaV.
Let me add my thanks that you are unharmed, but include a warning.
As a kid that forgot his house keys all the time and so was forced to break into his own house when he came home from school, I know that a piece of broomstick or dowel in the tracks of a sliding door is not secure. I could pop one out in about 3 seconds, I won’t get into details because I’d hate to teach a crook something.
They make adjustable-length locking bars that are meant to hold cargo in place in a pickup truck bed, these will fit in a sliding door and are a much better option.
I watched a show one time about not only the csliding glass doors, but also the slider windows. They recommend a small locking pin be screwed into the center of the windows/doors.
It’s easily removed by the inside but you can’t get to the from the outside.
The same thing happened to me when I was visiting a friend five or six years ago–but, happily, he was more interested in stuff than in me. Like you, I woke up to find a dark shadow at the foot of the bed at 3:00 a.m. (this was on the second floor: cat burglar!). He’d accidentally bumped into the bed and woke me up.
I stayed mum and pretended to be asleep, to see what he would do next: he took my purse and my friend’s laptop. I decided to stay “asleep,” figuring neither of those were worth a slit throat. Waited till he was gone, woke my friend and we called the police.
Scary stuff, much more so for you than me, as it was my friend’s home and not mine!
I have used both dowels and locking pins in windows and sliding door, with success. We’ve locked ourselves out and really had a hard time getting in, which is the whole point of these devices. They aren’t solely to keep someout out, but to waste enough time (more than a few seconds or a minute) make him pick another, easier target (unless you are being targeted for a particular reason).
As a woman living alone, there are some other things you can do. One is get off the ground floor! Second floor or higher is better. You could also get a dog.
In fact, we eventually took out our sliding doors and replaced them with french doors with a dead bolt (keyhole in both sides, not a turn lock on the inside). This isn’t possible in a rental, of course, but something to keep in mind for the future.
You did a great job.
I got those at home.
Somebody broke in my apartment when I was single and lived alone. I came home for lunch from work and found the door to my bedroom open, something I knew I hadn’t done. My clothes were strewn everywhere and he took my passport, my laptop and some jewelry. I have since moved from there and I am still a little paranoid. For some time I fantazised how I would kill him if I had had the chance (something I not particularly proud of).
I am glad you are OK LunaV. You did a great job, I don’t know what I would have done myself in that case, probably freeze, or die of fright.
More zombie spam reported. Sheesh. Nasty zombie infestation tonight.