- D
On October 22nd, at about 11:40pm I took a break from studying to go buy snacks at the 7/11. Upon returning, maybe 15 min later, I entered my house through North door (one door faces N, one faces E). Soon after getting home, I found it funny that my 70lb German Shepherd didn’t greet me at the door, but it was late and she was tired so it wasn’t too uncommon. Soon after concluding the weirdness that my dog didn’t meet me at the door, I start to hear loud banging sounds on the 2nd floor, I live on the 3rd floor, but didn’t find this odd as i have a roomate on the 2nd. After getting my shoes off, slipping on my house shoes and putting my stuff away I began to head up the stairs of my house when I notice that my E facing door is ajar. Before I could come to a conclusion on that, I saw a man at the top of my stairs with a mask on and arms filled with my stuff.
The man appeared calm and just started down the stairs as if he belonged so it took maybe 2 seconds for my brain to piece together that this was not a friend of my roommates or of my house. This was made obvious by the mans middle age and prominent features of a drug addict that became apparent as he got closer to me. I always carry mace on me after I was attacked by a man with a hatchet, attempting to set my dumpster on fire a few months ago. I clicked the safety off my mace as he said -and i’m not even joking- “all I took was a shirt”, and as he turned towards me in my doorway like he thought i was just going to say “enjoy the free gifts!”, I emptied the whole can of hot sauce into his eyeballs. He dropped everything in his hands, screamed like a yellow bellied coward and started to run, as I began dialing 911 I just as soon realized I was in house shoes and there was ice everywhere so I chased him to the alley on 18th and between Spruce and Pearl and stopped so I could hopefully be found by an officer in time to catch this guy.
When the police arrived, they stopped 3 blocks W of my position on Pearl and 18th and ran to meet me at my location. I said he was headed NE but probably still in the alley and the officer called it in. The officer and I got back to my house and I retold what had happened; I confirmed my dog was fine and that she basically stayed in my room to give the burglar moral support during the entire robbery. The whole time the police were questioning me, I kept saying, “he’s been maced, I promise you he’s still in the alley” and the office assured me they were “combing the alley”. When the officers cleared my house, we went around to take inventory of the stolen property. I immediately notice my laptop was stolen. Though It was just a cheap Acer I had purchased in 2017, it had my entire semester on it and days of research pertaining to a mid term research essay i have coming up. I had also spent good money keeping the components up to date and it ran beautifully. It was one of the cheapest things stolen from me, but it hit the hardest. Growing up in a crime ridden area of inner city Houston until i was about 23, I’d like to think I know this type of evil somewhat well and I told the cop I could find the guy as he was likely somewhere close waiting to be able to see again, but the officer insisted that PD would find them. After the 30 min of questioning was concluded, I set off in my car at about 1am to find a man with a spicy face.
First, i gave the alleys by my house a once over from Pearl and 18th, East to to 28th st. Then, I went to the 24hr Circle K on Folsom then the one on Canyon to see if a man with red eyes and a runny nose had come in to buy milk, water, visine or another form of OC neutralizing liquid, but no one had seen a thing. I then headed to some of the homeless camps to see if there was any obviousness of a person who had been maced and offered some of the awake residents of the camp my number and a cash reward to get my laptop back if they heard anything. I was polite, offered everyone i talked to money for info that led to my stuff and would have called law enforcement at the first sign of my guy, but did not see him in the streets. At about 1:30 I decide to call it quits, but not before one last trip down the alley on 18th and Spruce on a hunch that the mace was probably just wearing off and my guy would be looking for a chance to move if he was still in the alley. As soon as I get into the alley, going e bound from 18th, a man in a blue jacket stepped out from behind a white fence that belonged to a home with all of the lights off.
He began holding up his phone and I could barely make out the Lyft app on his screen. Since I’m not the police and lack the authority to question people and this guy wasn’t wearing a mask, didn’t have apparent signs of a good macing, and was wearing a different color jacket, I didn’t suspect him to be the guy; even though I thought a man catching a Lyft at about 1:45 in the AM was a bit strange. As I drove past the man, I slowed down. He then reached for my car door and I notice that he was wearing my backpack. I sped forward about 5ft, stopped and jumped out. He looked at me pretty perplexed then I told him I was the gentleman who had maced him. He got this bewildered look on his face the said “oh f***”. I then I told him I just wanted my laptop and demanded he drop my backpack. He complied and started walking away so I walked after him and dialed 911. For some reason I was still in my house shoes so we he bolted, I let him go because I didn’t want to end up a victim of a high speed ice slip. I ran back to my car and picked up my 5 year old Herschel backpack that had been completely dumped and headed east down the alley and took a west bound left on spruce to see if the guy was trying to run across the street.
I then saw a Lyft driver adjacent to the spot I’d seen the burglar waiting for his ride. I stopped window to window with the driver and he said he was waiting on someone. I informed him of the situation and he showed me the lift profile of his potential fare and it was the face of the man I’d seen in the alley and in my house. The police show up and shut down the block and the officers detained two homeless people who I confirmed were not the perpetrators. I kept assuring the officer that my stuff was likely still in the alley and begged him to check and he assured me, once again, he and his officers were “combing the alley”. This time, I met the officer a the Police station on Canyon by King Soopers and the Salvation Army. I told him the same stuff but with the energy of a man who’d spent the last 4 hours chasing a thief. The officer told me that if any of my stuff was in that alley, that his people would find it and to “go home and get some rest”. At 4am I left the station and on one last hunch, drove to the alley and walked to a parking area, filled with places to hide and stash things to the south of the alley, North of Pear st. Sure enough I find an expensive bluetooth speaker that was stolen from my room and very out of place for being where it was. I called the officer back and when he arrived, I found out he nor his people did searched that part of the alley at all. Fed up, amazed, a little hungry and exhausted, I finally went home and got some sleep.
Since I had been working on a laptop that never leaves my house and was in a flow state with my work and research, i had left about 6-8 hours of dilligent and focused research and editing open on my computer, without backing to the cloud.
When my laptop battery died, all of that work was erased. I was able to salvage quite a bit of research but I was unable to put it together anywhere close to as well as i did before the robbery.
[What i have done to try and fix this]
Since beginning my school career, I left my job as a full time auto technician at Acura to work as a delivery driver for Postmates, Doordash etc. Immediately after the burglary, I began doubling down on work so that I could offset the time and money it was taking me to get a new computer. On my first day of this i hit a pothole in the snow with enough force to pop my tire. Since i drive an all weel drive car, I had to replace the two tires up front instead of just the one that had been popped. This was a 450.00 expense that was now cutting into my savings.
I also learned that the force was enough to bend my rim and tie rod as well as break my wheel bearing, resulting in a 700.00 service, aside from the 450.00 tire charge. Since i am a mechanic, i could do this job in an afternoon with hand tools but soon realized that the bag containing my ratchets had been stolen.
My student loans had become an emergency fund with just enough left to pay my rent and bills for the month of November as i had used much of them to consolidate debt i had on my car and credit cards so that i could improve my credit with a lower intrest rate. So they are gone.
I pay everything from my rent, car payment, insurance and all the bills in between so it is terrifying when each day passes and i haven't been able to make a cent.
I also have a tendancy to do bike deliveries in Denver, as well as Boulder and was almost looking forward to the excersice as a means to make money and take my mid off the situation at hand, but I had quickly learned that my bike lock and bike lights had been taken as well. The thief even took two boxes of 700c bike tubes that i had as backups and my emergency tools that i keep in my backpack on deliveies. This was heartbreaking as I could have certainly worked for and earned the money i needed.
Lastly, i have a ton of musical equipment to sell and am working on doing that but the single event of being robbed has been excaterbated by a small car accident and has effectively turned my life upside down. I would pawn stuff but my ID was stolen as well and likely wont arrive for another week.
[Closing Statement]
Last year, I fell 60 feet off a mountain, effectively breaking a multidude of bones, sustaining a TBI among other complex trauma related injuries (https://youtu.be/_hQcnGJPKP4). I spent a month in the hospital and another re-learning to walk and use my hands again. Instead of being a victim, I worked harder than I ever had before and regained my health to the point of being healthier than I was before i fell. This is most of what inspired me to go back to school.
I am not giving up, because i am not sure how to do that. I am asking for help because It is one of my last options. Renters insurance will likely pay me a few hundred dollars after depreciation and deductibles are considered but it won't be enough to help me through this month.
If anyone needs there driveway shoveled, leaves raked, or anything like that, I am available to earn donations as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for any donations.
The man appeared calm and just started down the stairs as if he belonged so it took maybe 2 seconds for my brain to piece together that this was not a friend of my roommates or of my house. This was made obvious by the mans middle age and prominent features of a drug addict that became apparent as he got closer to me. I always carry mace on me after I was attacked by a man with a hatchet, attempting to set my dumpster on fire a few months ago. I clicked the safety off my mace as he said -and i’m not even joking- “all I took was a shirt”, and as he turned towards me in my doorway like he thought i was just going to say “enjoy the free gifts!”, I emptied the whole can of hot sauce into his eyeballs. He dropped everything in his hands, screamed like a yellow bellied coward and started to run, as I began dialing 911 I just as soon realized I was in house shoes and there was ice everywhere so I chased him to the alley on 18th and between Spruce and Pearl and stopped so I could hopefully be found by an officer in time to catch this guy.
When the police arrived, they stopped 3 blocks W of my position on Pearl and 18th and ran to meet me at my location. I said he was headed NE but probably still in the alley and the officer called it in. The officer and I got back to my house and I retold what had happened; I confirmed my dog was fine and that she basically stayed in my room to give the burglar moral support during the entire robbery. The whole time the police were questioning me, I kept saying, “he’s been maced, I promise you he’s still in the alley” and the office assured me they were “combing the alley”. When the officers cleared my house, we went around to take inventory of the stolen property. I immediately notice my laptop was stolen. Though It was just a cheap Acer I had purchased in 2017, it had my entire semester on it and days of research pertaining to a mid term research essay i have coming up. I had also spent good money keeping the components up to date and it ran beautifully. It was one of the cheapest things stolen from me, but it hit the hardest. Growing up in a crime ridden area of inner city Houston until i was about 23, I’d like to think I know this type of evil somewhat well and I told the cop I could find the guy as he was likely somewhere close waiting to be able to see again, but the officer insisted that PD would find them. After the 30 min of questioning was concluded, I set off in my car at about 1am to find a man with a spicy face.
First, i gave the alleys by my house a once over from Pearl and 18th, East to to 28th st. Then, I went to the 24hr Circle K on Folsom then the one on Canyon to see if a man with red eyes and a runny nose had come in to buy milk, water, visine or another form of OC neutralizing liquid, but no one had seen a thing. I then headed to some of the homeless camps to see if there was any obviousness of a person who had been maced and offered some of the awake residents of the camp my number and a cash reward to get my laptop back if they heard anything. I was polite, offered everyone i talked to money for info that led to my stuff and would have called law enforcement at the first sign of my guy, but did not see him in the streets. At about 1:30 I decide to call it quits, but not before one last trip down the alley on 18th and Spruce on a hunch that the mace was probably just wearing off and my guy would be looking for a chance to move if he was still in the alley. As soon as I get into the alley, going e bound from 18th, a man in a blue jacket stepped out from behind a white fence that belonged to a home with all of the lights off.
He began holding up his phone and I could barely make out the Lyft app on his screen. Since I’m not the police and lack the authority to question people and this guy wasn’t wearing a mask, didn’t have apparent signs of a good macing, and was wearing a different color jacket, I didn’t suspect him to be the guy; even though I thought a man catching a Lyft at about 1:45 in the AM was a bit strange. As I drove past the man, I slowed down. He then reached for my car door and I notice that he was wearing my backpack. I sped forward about 5ft, stopped and jumped out. He looked at me pretty perplexed then I told him I was the gentleman who had maced him. He got this bewildered look on his face the said “oh f***”. I then I told him I just wanted my laptop and demanded he drop my backpack. He complied and started walking away so I walked after him and dialed 911. For some reason I was still in my house shoes so we he bolted, I let him go because I didn’t want to end up a victim of a high speed ice slip. I ran back to my car and picked up my 5 year old Herschel backpack that had been completely dumped and headed east down the alley and took a west bound left on spruce to see if the guy was trying to run across the street.
I then saw a Lyft driver adjacent to the spot I’d seen the burglar waiting for his ride. I stopped window to window with the driver and he said he was waiting on someone. I informed him of the situation and he showed me the lift profile of his potential fare and it was the face of the man I’d seen in the alley and in my house. The police show up and shut down the block and the officers detained two homeless people who I confirmed were not the perpetrators. I kept assuring the officer that my stuff was likely still in the alley and begged him to check and he assured me, once again, he and his officers were “combing the alley”. This time, I met the officer a the Police station on Canyon by King Soopers and the Salvation Army. I told him the same stuff but with the energy of a man who’d spent the last 4 hours chasing a thief. The officer told me that if any of my stuff was in that alley, that his people would find it and to “go home and get some rest”. At 4am I left the station and on one last hunch, drove to the alley and walked to a parking area, filled with places to hide and stash things to the south of the alley, North of Pear st. Sure enough I find an expensive bluetooth speaker that was stolen from my room and very out of place for being where it was. I called the officer back and when he arrived, I found out he nor his people did searched that part of the alley at all. Fed up, amazed, a little hungry and exhausted, I finally went home and got some sleep.
Since I had been working on a laptop that never leaves my house and was in a flow state with my work and research, i had left about 6-8 hours of dilligent and focused research and editing open on my computer, without backing to the cloud.
When my laptop battery died, all of that work was erased. I was able to salvage quite a bit of research but I was unable to put it together anywhere close to as well as i did before the robbery.
[What i have done to try and fix this]
Since beginning my school career, I left my job as a full time auto technician at Acura to work as a delivery driver for Postmates, Doordash etc. Immediately after the burglary, I began doubling down on work so that I could offset the time and money it was taking me to get a new computer. On my first day of this i hit a pothole in the snow with enough force to pop my tire. Since i drive an all weel drive car, I had to replace the two tires up front instead of just the one that had been popped. This was a 450.00 expense that was now cutting into my savings.
I also learned that the force was enough to bend my rim and tie rod as well as break my wheel bearing, resulting in a 700.00 service, aside from the 450.00 tire charge. Since i am a mechanic, i could do this job in an afternoon with hand tools but soon realized that the bag containing my ratchets had been stolen.
My student loans had become an emergency fund with just enough left to pay my rent and bills for the month of November as i had used much of them to consolidate debt i had on my car and credit cards so that i could improve my credit with a lower intrest rate. So they are gone.
I pay everything from my rent, car payment, insurance and all the bills in between so it is terrifying when each day passes and i haven't been able to make a cent.
I also have a tendancy to do bike deliveries in Denver, as well as Boulder and was almost looking forward to the excersice as a means to make money and take my mid off the situation at hand, but I had quickly learned that my bike lock and bike lights had been taken as well. The thief even took two boxes of 700c bike tubes that i had as backups and my emergency tools that i keep in my backpack on deliveies. This was heartbreaking as I could have certainly worked for and earned the money i needed.
Lastly, i have a ton of musical equipment to sell and am working on doing that but the single event of being robbed has been excaterbated by a small car accident and has effectively turned my life upside down. I would pawn stuff but my ID was stolen as well and likely wont arrive for another week.
[Closing Statement]
Last year, I fell 60 feet off a mountain, effectively breaking a multidude of bones, sustaining a TBI among other complex trauma related injuries (https://youtu.be/_hQcnGJPKP4). I spent a month in the hospital and another re-learning to walk and use my hands again. Instead of being a victim, I worked harder than I ever had before and regained my health to the point of being healthier than I was before i fell. This is most of what inspired me to go back to school.
I am not giving up, because i am not sure how to do that. I am asking for help because It is one of my last options. Renters insurance will likely pay me a few hundred dollars after depreciation and deductibles are considered but it won't be enough to help me through this month.
If anyone needs there driveway shoveled, leaves raked, or anything like that, I am available to earn donations as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for any donations.