Our luck in Vermont has certainly been a contrast from the constant barrage of drama in our lives in Kansas. But we are magnets to bad luck after all, & we could only hold it off for so long. (But comparatively speaking this one was no big deal.). I've given you all some highlights on Facebook, but I'll fill in the gaps here.
Last week, we had one of our first really pretty days of Spring. (All you Midwest people who have had plenty of days in the 70's can just shush!). So Matt opened all the windows in the house to let in some of the warmer air while he worked. We've told you before that he's had the occasional guy come & help him out with some of the easy but time consuming tasks so he can keep moving forward. Well this particular day, he had one of those guys there helping out doing clean up. Nineteen year old kid. Seemed nice enough. (For the sake of this blog we'll call him "Joe.") In retrospect, Matt says that there had been some weird things he noticed on the days "Joe" was there. Like the front door being unlocked when he swore he didn't open it, those kinds of things. But he never thought much of it. Anyway, Matt did his work for the day, and as he was leaving, he locked up the house. But apparently, not being used to closing up all the windows, he accidentally missed one (or just didn't get it closed all the way).
That night, we had several rolls of copper wire & breakers stolen from the house, valued at about $1000. Ugh!! So here was the weird part: they didn't take all of the wire. They didn't even take any of the expensive tools that were right there in the kitchen. Just those few things. If it were a random robber they would've cleaned us out for sure. We had high suspicions that this kid had something to do with it.
So Matt called the police as soon as he discovered what was missing & filed a report, and he made sure to tell them about who he suspected, plus a few other potentials. That afternoon, they had the guy in for questioning for an hour. They also called in his parole officer (!!!). Oh yeah, turns out he's already on parole for stealing. Awesome! The guy then texts Matt afterward & says "I swear I didn't steal from you! I would never do that!" Mmmm kay.
Here where it gets really crazy (all over a few rolls of wire!). Now let me start by saying this is a small town, but it's not tiny (like 8,000 people). So this "small world" moment isn't entirely to be expected. Plus, given that I don't want to violate anyone's privacy with what I share here, I may end up being a little cryptic. My apologies up front.
So a few days later, we get a call from a friend. Respectable guy in town, business owner, all that. Out of the blue he brings up that he's aware that we suspect this kid is involved in the robbery & "we can be 100% sure he did it." Whoa! Turns out (again, being a bit cryptic) that this kid is involved with a family member of theirs & I gather that she shared with them somehow that "Joe" had obtained this wire to scrap for cash. We seriously owe these people so much because without this tip the police didn't have enough evidence to prove anything! The police contacted our friend & went from there.
Story gets weirder. And most of it I'm just piecing together from what Matt's been telling me & what the police have been sharing with him. Apparently they not only had a conversation with "Joe" but with the girl too (let's call her "Jane.") I'm not sure what Jane & Joe confessed or didn't, but it came up in conversation that the one who actually stole everything was a guy we've never met who lives up the street. They said he cut it all up & had several duffle bags worth & was going to take it to the scrap yard. It also came up that Jane had an outstanding warrant in Burlington, so she was arrested at that time for her warrant. Whoops! No such luck with the guy they blamed, but every time they talked with these two their story changed. Finally, the police were able to get ahold of the records from the scrap yard. From that, the car that was used belonged to "Joe's" friend, and clearly in the car were "Joe" & "Jane." The friend's driver's license was also given to scrap the WHOLE UNWRAPPED ROLLS! He got a whopping hundred bucks for his trouble.
"Joe" has been arrested.
Matt found out that there are two judges in town: one who will punish the little punk & one who lets most of these things go with little consequence. So guess what Matt did? He took all three of my kids (I was at work) and went to the arraignment!! (Lawyer was shocked to see him there. I am not the least bit surprised. lol) He figured the judge might be swayed if he saw that this petty theft affected a family. (And PS, "Joe" was pretty shocked to see him there too! ha ha!)
So this is what came of it: "Joe" plead not guilty. Of course. He was offered $5,000 bail equaling a $500 bond fee. He will have trial in 2-3 weeks. The town attorney will send us a letter telling us more in a few days. He had a job lined up to start next week. He has now lost that job. He will be on house arrest until his trial. He has been ordered to have no contact with us & to go nowhere near our property. He has also been ordered to have no contact with "Jane," but they live together, so I'm not sure how that's going to play out. The lawyer told us that there is some sort of victim's fund that we will be repaid from. "Joe" will have to repay that cost over time.
All that for a lousy hundred bucks.
Huge story for a relatively small theft, and a happy ending within a week. I can't help but think about the four times we were robbed in Kansas. That tens of thousands of dollars worth of belongings were stolen from us, we had a short list of suspects then too, but we never heard a peep of any resolution to any of that ever. So yes, we had a little robbery at our house, but the police here actually cared & we are so grateful that the "bad guy" didn't get away with it.
Somehow now I am much more okay with Matt's ridiculous plan for high security around the house. Electricity = surveillance cameras & alarm system. No more bad guys. ;)
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