Thursday, January 20, 2011

Thank you San Diego police, but most of all for Tommy







Who here is like me and can't watch their local news before bed (or anytime for that matter)?
I am a diligent G.M.A. fan and enjoy my morning updates on world matters, but hate hearing about what's happening in my city.
Recently here in San Diego a "groper" has been on the loose and has been singling out women joggers/walkers. I know these types of people are everywhere and can "strike" at any time, but hearing about it numerously and hearing that it's around close neighborhoods just makes me even more nervous.
So today when I returned from mommy and me with Weston, my heart skipped a beat when I saw an unfamiliar guy in an unfamiliar car sitting about 30 feet away from our house parked in a visitor spot.
In our neighborhood, it's easy to get familiar with the cars that are usually parked around and about, so that was the first red flag-unusual car, unusual guy.
This was at 10:30.
I told myself that he was probably just waiting for someone and would be gone soon.
At 11:10, I walked out to the driveway, put Weston in the car to go pick up Ashton from school and still noticed the car parked with the window down and the guy still sitting inside.
I then noticed that there wasn't a rear license plate on his vehicle.
As I pulled down the street, I glanced in the rear view mirror right after I passed him and saw that there wasn't a license plate on the front of his car either. Hmmm, kind of scary.
After observing that all I could think about was why was he there and why did he have an unmarked car?
My only answer was that he obviously didn't want someone taking down his plates to report him to the cops.
When I pulled into our neighborhood after getting Ashton (slightly hoping he was gone, but knew that would probably freak me out and keep me up at night even more) I rounded our street and there he was. Still sitting in his car, with the window down. As I passed he just kind of stared at us. No smile or wave or friendly acknowledgement whatsoever.
I got inside and started making lunch and decided to talk to Tommy about the ordeal.
Without any hesitation he came home, checked it out as he was pulling down our street and then decided to call the cops.
I forgot to mention that we could see the guy in his car from an upstairs window in our house, so as Tommy was talking to the dispatcher, he was literally telling him the exact description of the guy and car and what he was doing. The cops were concerned that he was casing the neighborhood and houses. After he got off of the phone Tom came downstairs to tell me what was going on then returned to the upstairs "lookout point" to see what the guy was doing.
He was gone. The window was now rolled up and the car was empty.
Great. Now what will the police do? I wanted to know why the guy was there so that I could get on with my day (and life) without being paranoid and scared.
10 minutes later the cops arrived and started casing the car.
Literally 3 minutes after they arrived the owner (a.k.a. creepy guy) came outside of a house 2 lots down from ours (I think) and the cops started talking to him. After the mystery man drove off, Tommy went outside to see what the story was.
Thankfully he was an "at home counselor" doing a house call and his couple never showed up. And about the unmarked Subaru? He had just bought it. I guess after checking the cars v.i.n. # and calling his office number found on the I.D. badge he presented the officers his story checked out.
The whole time I was hoping that this is what was going on. I was hoping that he was just waiting for someone. It just seemed a little strange that it was for 2 + hours.

I am really thankful that I have never really had to live in fear because of the neighborhood I live in. I'm thankful to have good friends and family who are honest and live good lives so I don't worry about scary things.
I know the world is filled with horrible things, many of which are happening right under our noses.
Today I am thankful for the good in the world. The policemen who came to check out some suspicious behavior and also for Tommy who kept me safe, calm and let me know everything would be ok. At one point while we waited for the police Tommy could tell that I was nervous and scared and immediately reassured me and told me that he had numerous F.B.I. friends and colleagues that would be here in 30 seconds with guns and haul the guy away if we needed it.
He never hesitated or ignored my concerns. Instead he took control and handled everything.
Thank you T. You keep our family safe and we love you for that.

3 comments:

Rosemary said...

I'm glad everything turned out alright! I'm glad T took you seriously and made sure everything was fine. And yes I too am thankful for our security people everywhere!

Princess Sarah said...

PHEW...I was nervous and scared for you when I was reading that. Thanks for keeping watch on the neighborhood though!! HA HA I am glad it turned out all o.k. I miss that place so much....one more year!!!! ;)

ej said...

Way to listen to your instincts, they don't flare up for nothing. I still think it sounds suspicious...
Stay safe! I know you guys will.