Last week I was the victim of a thief in the night — and my own complacency and foolishness. Here’s what happened: We returned around midnight after a long evening out with friends. After a hot day (around 95 degrees) and being closed up for hours, the garage was still stuffy and hot while outside temps were a good 20 degrees cooler. When my husband announced he was closing the garage up as we headed to bed, I urged him to leave it open for the night. Otherwise, it would hold that heat all night and the rooms above it would be that much warmer as well. Besides, we live in a very quiet neighborhood with never a peep of break-ins or crime. We’re on the edge of our town’s developed area, with orchards and cattle-filled pastures a block away and plenty of vacant lots on our street. Peaceful and serene, no problem. You can guess where this is heading. The next morning as we were preparing breakfast, our across-the-street neighbor Amy stopped by to tell us she had just visited with some local police officers who were taking a statement from homeowners a few blocks away. They’d left their garage and vehicles open overnight and found items had been stolen in the morning. Amy herself had noticed someone had rifled through her unlocked truck but taken nothing. She wanted to let us know, as she noticed that our normally closed-up garage had been left open the night before. I thanked her and went to check out the garage. I knew we didn’t keep much of value in the cars, but you never know what someone with mischief in mind might do. It only took a quick glance in my van’s open window to confirm that someone had been in there. The glove box was open and its contents scattered on the seat, but nothing appeared to be missing. In fact, the small change I kept in the console hadn’t been touched, even though it was in plain sight. With a sudden, sinking feeling, I turned to my husband’s car. Sure enough, they’d taken his Sirius satellite radio (he loves to listen to that thing, especially on long trips!) — but left the radar detector (a fact he embarassedly pointed out to the officer who took our report an hour later). That and a few coins were all that were missing, and a quick check of the garage revealed the thief/thieves had found nothing else they deemed worth taking. The officer who responded and dusted for a few prints indicated that at least five homes in the neighborhood had been “visited” overnight, the robbers taking advantage of unlocked garages and vehicles. In a few instances, doors connecting garages to homes had also been left unlocked, and a woman’s purse, with all her i.d., credit cards and even passport had been taken. In another, the intruder walked through several rooms before the sleeping occupants had awakened and scared him off (YIKES!). I felt slightly less stupid, especially after reading that a rash of such thefts have been occuring throughout our valley. It seems a lot of people in the hot weather have been leaving cars unlocked and windows rolled down . . . and purses, wallets and other valuables left sitting there in plain sight, not just at home but on the street and in parking lots. See, I’m not quite that foolish!! The cops seem to think it’s probably kids, mostly interested in cash and small items. In our neighborhood they passed up golf clubs, expensive tools and other fence-able goods and thankfully weren’t into random vandalism. We’re thankful they didn’t leave our chest freezer open and/or leave it unplugged, for instance, and we know we got off pretty easy. A new radio is on order, the garage is shut up tight every evening now, and everyone in our neighborhood is a little more watchful and aware these days. The most painful fallout for me from this little incident? The feeling that my husband and daughters will be reminding me of it for the rest of my life! — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor