We've Been Robbed!!

We got a call from the police to get home that we've been robbed. Our first scare was if the cats got out, then the thought of what was missing and had been destroyed. We drove up to 7 police cars blocking the street. I thought I was going to throw-up. Doors were open and windows had been busted. On the bright side, THEY CAUGHT THEM! We asked if we could go in and see if any cats were missing since they were fingerprinting etc. After about 1/2 hour we found EVERY cat...whew....and the robbers???? The kid next door and his friends! We are prosecuting with NO hesitation. There's a grade school behind us and the kids were out for recess. They saw these boys jump over the fence, heard the glass shatter and called the police. They had our TV out in backyard when they were caught! What a mess we have, fingerprint dust everywhere! Guess I better get cleaning....

How terrible!

But I am so happy the cats are ok. Of course these boys must have a chance to learn from that:D (other than just make sure they aren't caught next time!)

OMG! That's a call nobody ever wants to get! How old were these boys? Gradeschool?

We had our neighbor's kid break into our hose about 3 years ago, our dachshun/lab mix dog took a nasty bite out of him and he slam her against the wall, severly injuring her doxie style back:mad:

I am glad that all of the cats were found so quickly - I hope all of them are ok and none of the them got cut on glass or anything.
Please let us know what happens to the punks!

I'm so glad the cats are all okay and accounted for.

How horrible but I'm guessing since they caught them that you will get any stolen belonging back. Good for you for prosecuting too!! Stick it to them!!

How sad that it was the kid next door! We have an alarm system....which I HATE.... i should use it more...

WOW! I am so sorry that had to happen! :( But glad that the cats are safe AND that they were caught! stupid kids. :mad:

Oh no!! How terrible!! :( :(

What a relief that the cats are safe, just hope they haven't cut thier little paws. Oh, how nasty of those kids - they must have known you have cats. :mad:

I hope the clearing up won't be too bad and nothing is ruined or missing. Good luck with everything!!

hugs to you! :)

Oh Lisa.. how awful!!!! I am so thankful that you all weren't home and hurt, and that all kitties are present and accounted for and unhurt as well!!! Stupid kids!!!!!!!!!:mad: :mad: :mad:
How old were these kids? Old enough I hope to REALLY be punished! How sad that you have to live beside them ... I hope their parents are the type to be ashamed instead of finding a way to blame you!!! :rolleyes:

Please keep us updated, this worries me! :confused:

I'm so glad the cats were ok. I heard it's a mess to clean up finger printing dust. It seems to travel everywhere.

How awful! And to know that it's your next door neighbor is even worse. At least all the kitties are safe - whew!

We, too, have an alarm that we don't use near enough, and we should since just last week somebody stole a radar detector out of one of the cars in a parking lot behind our house, and ran right through our yard to their getaway car! It had snowed and Terry and the policeman could see the guy's tracks and the tracks of the car, but no luck with the perp. :(

:eek:

SO GLAD all the Kats are all accounted for!! :)

Here's a few Cleaning Tips from the Web...
-------------------------------------------

In the event that there is fingerprint powder to clean up,
please follow the following steps.

Areas and items should be vacuumed before any type wet process is used.
Use caution in not letting the vacuum brush drag through the powder
as this may create a larger mess and grind the powder into the surface
making it harder to clean.

Typical household cleaners will generally clean up the powder
on clean non-porous surfaces.
If the powder is on cloth surfaces, it is best to wash the item with detergent.
Sometimes professional cleaning services have experience with
this type situation and could be used.

------------------------------------------------

Removing Carbon Black, Carbon Paper, Dry Photocopier Toner,
Fingerprint Powder, Soot from RUGS...

DO NOT GET THESE SUBSTANCES WET INITIALLY!!!

Remedy: Thoroughly vacuum the affected area;
continue even after you no longer see the dust.
Pat a non-flammable dry cleaning fluid onto the area with a clean,
white towel.
(NOTE: Pouring the solvent directly on the carpet will loosen the
latex glue that holds the layers of carpet backing together.)
Blot the area with a mixture of 1 scant teaspoon of liquid hand
dishwashing soap for each cup of lukewarm water used.
Then rinse by blotting the area with lukewarm water on a clean,
white towel. Finish by patting the area dry with a clean,
dry, white, absorbent towel.

---------------------------------------

Note: Sometimes the ink on carbon paper can be removed more easily with alcohol than with
dry cleaning fluid. Test a small area to see which will work best on your particular stain.

Lisa, I'm so sorry about the robbery. Thank goodness all the kitties were found okay. My sister's house was broken into (kids across the street) in November. Her 2 kitties were gone and it was around 10 degrees outside. We searched the whole house (dreading what we'd find) and called and called and they finally wandered home around 9:00 p.m. We never found out where they were hiding.

Good for you for prosecuting them. They need to learn a valuable lesson. If they don't learn it now, who knows what they might do next. Just a warning, though. The justice system will drive you crazy. Many meetings. Many meeting cancellations. Delays, etc. It will end up taking a lot of your time and sometimes you'll think it's not worth it. But, in the long run, it is.

Hope things get back to normal for you soon.

How horrible! I am so glad that they caught them. Punks!

OMG that's horrible! But thankfully all of the kitties (your most valuable asset :) ) were ok. I'm also happy to hear that the kids got caught.

Ugh, how scary, what a shock!!! Hopefully these kids will learn their lesson because it's not a nice thought to have someone like that in the neighborhood!

What a relieve that at least the cats are alright!

Kirsten

Thank you all! The kid is sixteen and at juvie right now. What a mess cleaning up, but at least we got the window replaced! Here's Bo after helping me clean graphite from the finger printing:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...8/f9c6d552.jpg

And here's Olive questioning if it's safe to come out now:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...b/f9c6d54e.jpg

I hope you don't mind but I reposted Bo, the .orig was still there:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...8/f9c6d552.jpg

I am so hapy to hear that all the kitties are accounted for and that they caught them. I am also glad to hear that you are prosecuting.

I know that it is horrible, but hopefully you will be able to get back to normal quickly. My heart goes out to you. I never have had a house broken into but I have had several cars done and that was bad enough.

{{Hugs}} to all human and fur.

Thank God they caught the jerks and thank God none of the furkids were hurt. I've never been robbed but I can imagine how violated you must feel and to have it be the kid next door????? That's just way too close to home. Nail the sucker for all it's worth!!!

I am glad that everyone is safe, and the offenders were caught. Once you are done cleaning, relax with a nice hot cup of tea/cocoa/catnip tea for everyone (depending on species and preference. Smart girl, Olive, I'd be cautious, too!

Oh Lisa, I'm so sorry you had to go through this!! I don't blame you for prosecuting. These little juvenile delinquents deserve to learn a lesson. Where the hell were these kids parents anyway???

I'm so glad your furbabies are all present and accounted for and were uninjured, although I'm SURE they're a little skittish right now. Can't blame them.

((((hugs)))))

Donna

I'm so glad your kitties were OK.

Recently, I've been faced with almost the same scenario. The houses on both sides of ours have been hit in the last two months. (and we live in a quiet subdivision) The robbers are hitting rental homes, but I became so panicked about them letting our cats out, we got the ADT system installed last week.

It makes me sick, they think it's the stuff that we'll be upset over, but it's the precious lives of our pets we are really caoncerned with. The stuff, they can have.

Well, the robbers really don't care if we are upset or not, but they have no regard for our pets, for sure.

I had to do what I had to do to protect my babies.

How terrible to know that someone has been in your home, where you are supposed to feel safe and secure...all that mess they have created...
But I am really relieved to hear that the cats are safe and sound...
{{{{{HUGS}}}}}

Oh how terrible! I'm so glad that all the kitties are ok. Hopefully you'll have everything cleaned up soon.

I feel safe knowing that this is the face that would greet any robber in our house:

THANK GOD noone got hurt or out!!!!
Kids now days!!! I applaud you for prosecuting!

OMG!

So glad that the cats are safe, the kids caught, and no one was hurt. Also glad that the school was having a recess right then to increase the odds that the cats wouldn't be hurt. Take care of yourself, the feeling of violation can be insidious.

{{{hugs}}}

When we have been robbed (in the middle of the night with a lot of nasty details like knife threatening and so), after they left and I could finally let my tears flow, Vasea - our cat at the time, cried with me. I was miserable and happy in the same time - that they violated our space and took our things and every dollar and lei I had in the house and happy that we were ok and the kitties too.

Good that you didn't have to go through this stuff. Just see the bright side :)

I'm soooo sorry this happened to you!!! It was less than six months ago that we went through the same thing! The police didn't call we just came home and found the glass broke out of our door and the door knob busted off. I know the fear you felt. I almost couldn't breath with the panic of what I might find when we went inside! I have never felt so much fear for my cats in all my life!! We were lucky too that none of them were hurt. We weren't so lucky as to get any of our stuff retuned! They did catch the *&%$!@# but he had already traded our stuff for crack.
That fingerprint dust is so nasty!! It is so hard to get off!! My kitties had black paws for a while to. Of course Leroy was covered in it because he tried to help the officers!!
I'm glad that as horrible as this is to experience your kitties are ok and they didn't get out of the house with any of your stuff!!
I'm sending prayers because this will make you feel different for some time. My kitties are still afraid of any unknown noise at the back door.
ps. I hope they nail the punk to the wall!!! He is young enough now to maybe learn a lesson. I think he should have to clean your litter boxes for a year too!!!

I'm sorry to hear that that happened but very glad to hear that you and the cats are safe.

Having someone break into my house or my house to catch fire are my worst fears....not about the house, but just like you...the cats. {{{hugs to you and the cats}}}

OHMYGOSH! HOW HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe the lack of respect young kids have these days! I would be worried about the cats first thing too! They are irreplaceable, the belongings are! I am very glad you are prosecuting! Have no mercy! There is NO excuse! :mad: Do you have an alarm system in your house? Is that how the police got there so fast? That would make me get one. I'm so happy that you found the people responsible and are going to bring them to justice. MOST importantly, I'm so glad that your cats are all safe and accounted for. What a horrible thing to happen to such a good person. :( Let us know how it goes!