Brazen Burglar shouldn't be so cocky

Brazen burglar shouldn't be so cocky

By Kelvin Wade | | September 24, 2009 17:26

The crime issue gets a lot of attention in Fairfield. Sadly, we've become used to gunshots and gang violence and we applaud measures like the gang injunction to help curtail it.

We know what streets and neighborhoods to avoid. We've seen crime both taint and victimize our own local government. Crime is the source of a lot of local fear.

But right now there's at least one person, who happens to be a criminal, who should be more frightened than any Fairfield resident. I'm talking about the 'westside burglar,' a fiend suspected of committing more than 30 burglaries in Fairfield.

Westside burglar, what are you thinking? You usually break into homes on the west side of Interstate 80 between Waterman Boulevard and Oliver Road between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

You boldly break into occupied homes. Well, since you usually enter through open windows and doors, we're not talking about someone with a lot of technical skill. But you enter homes where people are sleeping and that takes nerve, stupidity or drugs.

What's going to happen if during one of your nocturnal missions you're caught by a resident as you're trying to flee? We know you've been chased away by several residents. But what if you're tackled by an angry homeowner? And what if other neighbors spill out of their homes and they all set upon you? Those will be some of the longest minutes of your life waiting for the police to come and save . . . uh . . . arrest you. Those hardworking people who've been victimized by you just might decide to beat the living hell out of you.

There are a lot of armed folks in this town. Just what if you creep into the bedroom of someone waiting on you with a 9mm? You can't outrun a bullet. Is that the way you want to go out, bleeding out on the floor of someone's bedroom in the wee hours of the morning?

Is this how you want it to end, your identity finally revealed like the end of a Scooby Doo cartoon to your friends' and family's shame?

Years ago, while I sat in my living room reading a book, I saw two guys running through my backyard in broad daylight. On their heels was my Rottweiler mix, Brutus. I've never seen two guys leap a six foot fence that quickly before. Amazing what fear and adrenaline can do. Of course had Brutus caught them, I probably would've finished the chapter I was reading before calling the dog off.

If you're breaking the law or doing the wrong thing, you suffer the consequences in my book.

Perhaps one morning we'll see headlines that the westside burglar has been caught. Hopefully, for his sake, it's Fairfield police who are picking him up and not the coroner or ambulance.

While I certainly wouldn't advocate vigilante justice and I don't think it's the wisest move to confront an intruder, I just hope our criminals are aware that incarceration isn't always the only thing to fear in your line of 'work.' Peace.

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NOTES: I've never had my home burglarized but I have had my car broken into. They stole my stereo and about two dozen cassette tapes. (Hey, this was back in the day.) And the odd thing was, I had the tapes in a gym bag. For some reason, they took the tapes and the gym bag but left the tape cases on my seat. Why would they do that? It made no sense. That ticked me off even more because it took time to do that and it seemed to be a taunt: "Hey, look at all the albums you lost." I felt violated. I was pissed. It wasn't even about what they took. It was about the fact that they had no right to be in my car, taking my property.

So I can only imagine what victims of the Westside Burglar must feel like, knowing this scumbag was in their homes with them home! Home is the one place we should feel safe. To have someone violate your home, especially if you have kids, would be maddening. Infuriating. Every time that victim hears a sound in the night, their heart is going to pound and their pulse is going to race. People shouldn't have to live like that in their own homes.

So I wanted to send a message to this loser and others like him. You're really pissing people off. You're going to slip up and the end might not be pretty. I don't believe I have any possessions in my home that's worth losing your life over. But hey....try me.