January 2024: My House Was Almost Broken Into...And Then Things Got Weird
A tale of near-misses and unexpected twists.
The Near Break-In
It's 10:30 pm, Thursday, January 18th, 2024, and I'm home after a long 2 hour workout. I unlock the front door, walk straight to my room, and ready to knock out on the bed.
As I'm putting down my backpack and gym bag, my roommate Doug emerges from his room. “Uh, Eesen,” he whispers, “I gotta tell you something... I-I-I was playing video games on my computer like usual, and about 30 minutes ago, I heard a loud noise... I think someone might be in the house.”
“I had laundry going,” Doug continued, “and I'd propped a chair against the door between the living room and laundry to block the sound. After I heard that noise, I turned to find that the chair wasn't where I left it.”
It's not that I didn't believe Doug, but a part of me didn't want to accept the possibility of a break-in. I figured Doug could have misheard something. I suggested we check the rest of the house first, leaving the laundry room for last. With Doug's 6'2" frame behind me, we searched room by room, finding no traces of a person or evidence of a break in. Now, it was time for the laundry room.
At this point, Doug suggested calling the cops, but I wanted to be absolutely sure someone had broken in. Doug picked up a frying pan as his weapon of choice, and I equipped myself with a kitchen knife. Doug gave me a ‘Woah’, but I wasn’t messing around.
And I definitely wasn’t ready to see the Lord just yet.
We tiptoed to the laundry room door. After a few tense breaths, I threw it open. The backyard door – untouched in months – was wide open. My heart pounded as I scanned the laundry, closets, the bathroom... nothing. I locked the backyard door and turned to Doug, bewildered.
We swept the house again, and this time Doug spotted it – the mesh bathroom window near the laundry room was busted. No question now, someone had broken in. Doug called the cops. They arrived, did their walkthrough, took our statements, handed us a contact card, and left with the mesh window as evidence.
My theory? The burglar came in through the window, and the chair Doug had propped against the door shifted when they attempted to enter the living room. Even with headphones, Doug must have heard it. The intruder panicked when they realized someone was home, hightailing it out the backyard door. We tried calling John, our other roommate, but he was off partying. Exhausted, Doug and I went to bed.
The Uninvited Guest Strikes Again
The next day, Friday, I head out to work at 7 am to get my morning workout in. For the first time ever, I lock my bedroom door before leaving. Doug texted that his parents would be house-sitting for the day.
After a good day at work and a personal training session, I get home around 9 pm. As soon as I walk in, John says, “You won't believe what happened.” This wasn't over yet.
Doug’s parents house-sat from 10 am till about 6 pm, and had their car parked in the driveway. John and Doug got back home well before Doug’s parents left, but they parked their cars on the street. Around 6:30 pm, a “dark-skinned guy in a hoodie” knocked on the door. Doug and John were too scared to open the door so from the window, Doug said, “Uh, hello? What do you need?”. The stranger walked away and mumbled under his breath, “Can I… borrow your phone”, with an accent. Doug updated the cops about the incident using the number they left us yesterday.
Too much of a coincidence for this not to be related to yesterday's break-in. I was a little annoyed Doug and John didn't get a picture of the guy (ugh). If I'd been there, I would've at least confronted him, especially with two other 6'2" guys backing me up.
The Wrong Person: A Twist in the Tale
Doug installed a Ring camera the weekend after the break-in. Over a week went by, and Saturday the 27th rolls around. I get home from a great pickleball session, and Doug says, “Hey Eesen, so we are all good, but just so you know, John called the cops last night because he thought he saw someone suspicious.”
It turns out that Friday evening, John was home alone…
… getting ready to go out when he saw a “suspicious-looking dark-skinned man” walking between our neighbor Jerry's house and ours. We were all on edge after the break-in, so John jumped to the conclusion that this guy might be the same one from a week ago.
He called the cops, and they arrived within minutes. John, peeking through the window, was thrilled to see them talking to the guy, convinced they'd finally caught the intruder.
Soon, the cops knocked on our door. Turns out, the “suspicious” guy, Matt, often visits Jerry's house to pet the stray cats she feeds. Unbelievable. In my 1.5 years there, I'd never seen Matt, and neither had Doug or John. John felt horrible – the classic case of a “privileged white male” calling the cops on an innocent person of color.
On Monday the 29th, I come home to hear from John that Matt stopped by to gift us a cake, along with an apology note for the worry he caused. Quite a generous gesture, and it should have been us giving him a gift instead.
John was hesitant to eat the cake and was paranoid. Apparently, Matt said, "I hope you like chocolate" when giving it to him, but it was actually Red Velvet. John asked me, "What if the cake is poisoned?" LOL.
I served myself a tiny slice and scarfed it down. I told John that if he’s that concerned about the cake being poisoned, he should take a picture of me as evidence.
A few days have gone by since I’ve eaten the cake and nothing’s happened. John still hasn’t tried the cake, but at least we’re all safe and sound.
2024 is off to an exciting start and with hopefully many more exciting stories to come.