Saturday, October 29, 2005
SouthBendTribune.com: The wrong house
SOUTH BEND -- They married last September, bought their first house in April, and have since been preparing the home for the birth of their first child, a boy due Christmas Day. But on Thursday night, Aaron and Lanell Yoder arrived at 917 E. LaSalle Ave. to find their place padlocked, their front door frame damaged, their belongings gone. A notice indicated that their home was being taken in a mortgage foreclosure. In fact, the whole incident was a mistake, and the home to be foreclosed was at 917 W. LaSalle Ave. The situation left the couple angry and annoyed at the inconvenience, and eager to receive compensation.
Holy freaking crap. Read that story...that is absurd. It pisses me off to no end. I think that I would kill someone if that happened to me. I would press charges for trespassing, theft, etc. That's exactly what happened...they stole all their crap. Mistake or on purpose it doesn't matter a bit. I'm nearly at a loss of words on this...it's absurd! A young couple trying to get started on their life comes home to find this happen. Wow...
Ok, now that I've read the most absurd story of the day it's time to talk about the amount of protection that our police force really offers us.
So, yesterday, I was driving back from a late mover at Hollywood Bar and Filmworks (the place where you eat and drink while watching a movie). I was traveling north on Fall Creek Parkway and was about to cross over Keystone. Well, there is a Silver Ford F-150 in the middle lane with his left turn signal on braking...he backs up traffic, I signal right to go around. This guy speeds up, but I catch his license plate. I force myself to remember the license plate.
Well, I'm now about 300 feet behind this guy and he is all over the road...playing pinball with the yellow and white lines. He's over both of the lines. It's 1am on a Friday night, the guy is obviously drunk. Well, I call 911 (amazingly I wasn't put on hold this time) and reported his truck, it's description, it's license plate, what road he is on, which direction he is headed and where he is at. I then hang up and drive at a normal speed as Fall Creek turns into Binford and eventually I-69.
All the while the guy continues his erratic driving, except now he driving at highway speeds. I continued driving the speed limit behind this guy...he was probably 500 yards or more ahead of me. I follow him to the Verizon Wireless Music Center exit and head home. I'm sure that he didn't get pulled over and I'm sure that he was drunk.
Seriously though...it would not have been difficult to get this guy. All that had to be done was look up his plates which would give the owners address (probably the guy driving the truck) and look at what road he is on and then easily determine if he is headed home. But wait...that would be the police department PREVENTING an accident or crime...not just investigating one after it's done. That ladies and gentleman is why the police department offers you no real protection. The only protection that you have, is the protection that you yourself provide, whether it is from guns, pepper spray, locks, reinforced doors, audible alarms, panic rooms, or being a big SOB like me.
Just think about it...we have all watched the show COPS probably more times than we want to admit. How many times have you seen the police prevent a crime? Few if any. The only crimes that they catch in the act are stand-off's and traffic stops that turn into chases. Sorry if this has shocked you out of a false sense of security, but everyone has to be vigilant to keep themselves safe. In the great tradition of Smokey the Bear...only YOU can prevent crimes against YOU.
Ok, I'm getting off of my soapbox soon...I just feel strongly about people driving like this. Back from my firefighter days, I've seen drunk drivers injure people...and if it can be stopped I'm all for it. This guy last night was in a Ford F150 extend cab. That truck weighs in at 6500lbs empty...figure in gas and passengers and he is easily a 7000lbs hunk of metal traveling at 70mph. Do you know how much damage that truck can do that fast?
Ok...that's about it...I worked for a couple of hours at work this morning from home...so that was nice. Went to bed about 3:15am, woke up at 7:20...but feel ok now...although I'm getting a little hungry.
SOUTH BEND -- They married last September, bought their first house in April, and have since been preparing the home for the birth of their first child, a boy due Christmas Day. But on Thursday night, Aaron and Lanell Yoder arrived at 917 E. LaSalle Ave. to find their place padlocked, their front door frame damaged, their belongings gone. A notice indicated that their home was being taken in a mortgage foreclosure. In fact, the whole incident was a mistake, and the home to be foreclosed was at 917 W. LaSalle Ave. The situation left the couple angry and annoyed at the inconvenience, and eager to receive compensation.
Holy freaking crap. Read that story...that is absurd. It pisses me off to no end. I think that I would kill someone if that happened to me. I would press charges for trespassing, theft, etc. That's exactly what happened...they stole all their crap. Mistake or on purpose it doesn't matter a bit. I'm nearly at a loss of words on this...it's absurd! A young couple trying to get started on their life comes home to find this happen. Wow...
Ok, now that I've read the most absurd story of the day it's time to talk about the amount of protection that our police force really offers us.
So, yesterday, I was driving back from a late mover at Hollywood Bar and Filmworks (the place where you eat and drink while watching a movie). I was traveling north on Fall Creek Parkway and was about to cross over Keystone. Well, there is a Silver Ford F-150 in the middle lane with his left turn signal on braking...he backs up traffic, I signal right to go around. This guy speeds up, but I catch his license plate. I force myself to remember the license plate.
Well, I'm now about 300 feet behind this guy and he is all over the road...playing pinball with the yellow and white lines. He's over both of the lines. It's 1am on a Friday night, the guy is obviously drunk. Well, I call 911 (amazingly I wasn't put on hold this time) and reported his truck, it's description, it's license plate, what road he is on, which direction he is headed and where he is at. I then hang up and drive at a normal speed as Fall Creek turns into Binford and eventually I-69.
All the while the guy continues his erratic driving, except now he driving at highway speeds. I continued driving the speed limit behind this guy...he was probably 500 yards or more ahead of me. I follow him to the Verizon Wireless Music Center exit and head home. I'm sure that he didn't get pulled over and I'm sure that he was drunk.
Seriously though...it would not have been difficult to get this guy. All that had to be done was look up his plates which would give the owners address (probably the guy driving the truck) and look at what road he is on and then easily determine if he is headed home. But wait...that would be the police department PREVENTING an accident or crime...not just investigating one after it's done. That ladies and gentleman is why the police department offers you no real protection. The only protection that you have, is the protection that you yourself provide, whether it is from guns, pepper spray, locks, reinforced doors, audible alarms, panic rooms, or being a big SOB like me.
Just think about it...we have all watched the show COPS probably more times than we want to admit. How many times have you seen the police prevent a crime? Few if any. The only crimes that they catch in the act are stand-off's and traffic stops that turn into chases. Sorry if this has shocked you out of a false sense of security, but everyone has to be vigilant to keep themselves safe. In the great tradition of Smokey the Bear...only YOU can prevent crimes against YOU.
Ok, I'm getting off of my soapbox soon...I just feel strongly about people driving like this. Back from my firefighter days, I've seen drunk drivers injure people...and if it can be stopped I'm all for it. This guy last night was in a Ford F150 extend cab. That truck weighs in at 6500lbs empty...figure in gas and passengers and he is easily a 7000lbs hunk of metal traveling at 70mph. Do you know how much damage that truck can do that fast?
Ok...that's about it...I worked for a couple of hours at work this morning from home...so that was nice. Went to bed about 3:15am, woke up at 7:20...but feel ok now...although I'm getting a little hungry.
