Pumpkin drama all over again..... UPDATE page 4

[Mermaid02]

I guess "stealing Pumpkins" is something that isn't unexpected around here. Is it right? No of course it isn't.... but it seems to be part of the "trick" in trick or treat around here..... unlike stealing Christmas decorations.... Sorry they stole your pumpkins op... hopefully it was just a Halloween prank and they won't continue....

 

[princess momma]

So, who stole the pumpkins? The kids from down the street?

I think I'd either let it go or handle it myself, if that were the case.

 

[nutterbutter2010]

I guess "stealing Pumpkins" is something that isn't unexpected around here. Is it right? No of course it isn't.... but it seems to be part of the "trick" in trick or treat around here..... unlike stealing Christmas decorations.... Sorry they stole your pumpkins op... hopefully it was just a Halloween prank and they won't continue....[/QUOTE]

Thats what scares me. OK, you took my pumpkins. But then the next night I come home and theres another pumpkin smashed all over my front landing and front of my driveway? If they just wanted to smash a pumpkin, they could have done that in the street, but why at my house? Then the next night an officer comes to my house at 9pm asking why we called.... we hadn't called! So who called the department and asked for an officer to come to my address??? Thats whats freeking me out.

 

[NMAmy]

I can't be sure of that at all and thats exactly what I told the detective when he called. I said that maybe the person who took them decided to just drop them infront of someone elses house so they wouldn't get in trouble. I do, however, know that they were mine 100%. It was the same amount of little ones, and the two big ones were the ones I picked out at the farm.

Were the pumpkins already carved or just whole? I'm just curious because I don't think I couldn't positively identify my uncarved pumpkins.

 

[Mermaid02]

I guess "stealing Pumpkins" is something that isn't unexpected around here. Is it right? No of course it isn't.... but it seems to be part of the "trick" in trick or treat around here..... unlike stealing Christmas decorations.... Sorry they stole your pumpkins op... hopefully it was just a Halloween prank and they won't continue....[/QUOTE]

Thats what scares me. OK, you took my pumpkins. But then the next night I come home and theres another pumpkin smashed all over my front landing and front of my driveway? If they just wanted to smash a pumpkin, they could have done that in the street, but why at my house? Then the next night an officer comes to my house at 9pm asking why we called.... we hadn't called! So who called the department and asked for an officer to come to my address??? Thats whats freeking me out.

Right, now you're talking harrassment... which is bigger than The Great Pumpkin Drama of 2009!

 

[Disney Doll]

Well, vandalism is vandalism, regardless of what is vandalized. Trespassing is trespassing, even if it is only for pumpkins. Theft is theft even if it is only pumpkins. If the same people who did this get more brazen and decide to go for something bigger, like say someone's 10 year old car, is the response going to be "Well, the car was 10 years old you were going to need a new one soon anyway."?

Basically, the OP reported that someone came onto her property uninvited & stole something. What they stole is irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that something was stolen. Perhaps she does live in a small enough town where the police have the resources to investigate something like this. Perhaps the police are investigating it as part of a bigger vandalism issue that is going on around town that the average townsperson might not be privy to. One of the OP's posts did say something about other weird things happening in the neighborhood, so maybe there is a connection between all of these things.

I live in a relatively small town. I consider it fairly safe. But the fact remains that if something happens that I think the police should be aware of, I call them. Now, I may not call 911, but I do call them and let them know. They cover the whole town, something may be happeneing in another part of town and now I am reporting it happening in my part of town and there could be patterns or trends developing that might help the police.

Back in the spring our leaf blower and weed whacker were stolen from our shed in broad daylight. DH could never be sure as to whether or not he ahd locked the shed, so he kept saying "It's probably my fauult if the shed wasn't locled". The policeman finally said to him "Someone walked onto your property into your shed and took 2 items that didn't belong to them. While it is always smarter to lock things up, it still doesn't negate the fact that the person trespassed and stole something. He or she shouldn't have been on your property or in your shed regardless of whether the shed was locked or not".

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I guess "stealing Pumpkins" is something that isn't unexpected around here. Is it right? No of course it isn't.... but it seems to be part of the "trick" in trick or treat around here..... unlike stealing Christmas decorations.... Sorry they stole your pumpkins op... hopefully it was just a Halloween prank and they won't continue....[/QUOTE]

Thats what scares me. OK, you took my pumpkins. But then the next night I come home and theres another pumpkin smashed all over my front landing and front of my driveway? If they just wanted to smash a pumpkin, they could have done that in the street, but why at my house? Then the next night an officer comes to my house at 9pm asking why we called.... we hadn't called! So who called the department and asked for an officer to come to my address??? Thats whats freeking me out.

What kind of Mayberry PD do you have that they don't know right away where the call came from? Ours knows right hen the call comes even. Super caller ID if you will since no number is blocked.

 

[Becky2005]

Also guys---she reported the pumpkins, she did NOT call for the detective. Someone else called and they came to the house to follow up.

I think someone on the street had something else happen, hence the reason the detective calling to follow-up to see if maybe they can put 2 + 2 together. Not so much for the pumpkins being stolen.

Many years ago we had an outdoor Santa stolen. It was just a wired framed one with lights. We called the police, not so much to do anything but to just report it because it was unusual activity for this neighborhood. We had it for years & I really didn't know the value of it (poor DD was convinced Santa wouldn't come though since he was stolen! She was little.) It was an unusually warm winter that year & the police said they had been having more than usual cases of such things. We assumed it was just teens or something. No big deal. We never heard from the police again & that was that. However, if a detective then called me up wanting to know if anything else had been going on, I would then have to assume they may have found out it was more than just harmless pranks going on but probably wouldn't tell you WHY they were following up.

I wouldn't think much about the police showing up at my door other than thinking it odd. We did have a situation with fireman doing that since apparently someone called there was a problem with the electrical unit that was in front of our house. We weren't the ones that called though but they did knock on our door to see if we were the ones & what the problem was. We were just as confused as they were.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Well, vandalism is vandalism, regardless of what is vandalized. Trespassing is trespassing, even if it is only for pumpkins. Theft is theft even if it is only pumpkins. If the same people who did this get more brazen and decide to go for something bigger, like say someone's 10 year old car, is the response going to be "Well, the car was 10 years old you were going to need a new one soon anyway."?

Basically, the OP reported that someone came onto her property uninvited & stole something. What they stole is irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that something was stolen. Perhaps she does live in a small enough town where the police have the resources to investigate something like this. Perhaps the police are investigating it as part of a bigger vandalism issue that is going on around town that the average townsperson might not be privy to. One of the OP's posts did say something about other weird things happening in the neighborhood, so maybe there is a connection between all of these things.

I live in a relatively small town. I consider it fairly safe. But the fact remains that if something happens that I think the police should be aware of, I call them. Now, I may not call 911, but I do call them and let them know. They cover the whole town, something may be happeneing in another part of town and now I am reporting it happening in my part of town and there could be patterns or trends developing that might help the police.

Back in the spring our leaf blower and weed whacker were stolen from our shed in broad daylight. DH could never be sure as to whether or not he ahd locked the shed, so he kept saying "It's probably my fauult if the shed wasn't locled". The policeman finally said to him "Someone walked onto your property into your shed and took 2 items that didn't belong to them. While it is always smarter to lock things up, it still doesn't negate the fact that the person trespassed and stole something. He or she shouldn't have been on your property or in your shed regardless of whether the shed was locked or not".

I was thinking along the same lines. Trespassing. Vandalism. Smashing the pumpkins on the OP's steps? That's not acceptable.

I'd be wary. It could be whoever is doing this will escalate. The events are kind of weird, seems beyond pranks to me. Most kids will hide or smash the pumpkins on the street. This is in your face stuff. Where are the parents in this? Wouldn't they notice the extra pumpkins and ask where they came from? Strange. It's good to have it all on record just in case.

I would have called the police, too.

 

[nutterbutter2010]

What kind of Mayberry PD do you have that they don't know right away where the call came from? Ours knows right hen the call comes even. Super caller ID if you will since no number is blocked.

Um, no, we don't live in Mayberry.... The officer couldn't check right at that moment who had made the call, and said the detective would call us to let us know what was going on.

I think someone on the street had something else happen, hence the reason the detective calling to follow-up to see if maybe they can put 2 + 2 together. Not so much for the pumpkins being stolen.

Many years ago we had an outdoor Santa stolen. It was just a wired framed one with lights. We called the police, not so much to do anything but to just report it because it was unusual activity for this neighborhood. We had it for years & I really didn't know the value of it (poor DD was convinced Santa wouldn't come though since he was stolen! She was little.) It was an unusually warm winter that year & the police said they had been having more than usual cases of such things. We assumed it was just teens or something. No big deal. We never heard from the police again & that was that. However, if a detective then called me up wanting to know if anything else had been going on, I would then have to assume they may have found out it was more than just harmless pranks going on but probably wouldn't tell you WHY they were following up.

I wouldn't think much about the police showing up at my door other than thinking it odd. We did have a situation with fireman doing that since apparently someone called there was a problem with the electrical unit that was in front of our house. We weren't the ones that called though but they did knock on our door to see if we were the ones & what the problem was. We were just as confused as they were.

The officer said that they had recieved a call to come to our house - our address. If it wasnt US that called, who did? He did say that it was something to do with stolen pumpkins, and we figured that maybe the detective had put an order in for someone to check up on us or something.... but he knew nothing about the fact that I had spoken to the detective, or anything about it. Just strange.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I know it's hard to believe but there really are towns that are small and quiet enough that the police would have time to investigate a case of theft and vandalism that involved Halloween pumpkins.

It is a crime to come onto someone's property and take their possessions, whether it is pumpkins or CDs in your car or your lawnmower. Police are the ones who investigate crimes.

Sure, pumpkin theft and vandalism are not in the same league as arson or murder but some small towns never experience arson or murder. I live in one such town. It's why we moved here.

I also live in a quiet town. One of my sisters lives in the city & when she visits me, she loves to read my local newspaper. She really enjoys reading the police log. She almost fell off her chair when she read about a run away horse! The police here would look into a pumpkin theft.

OP: I am sorry to hear how crazy this situation is getting for you. I hope everything works out.

 

[lillygator]

Ok, so heres whats gone on so far.....

Sunday nite: Come home to pumpkins stolen from the front of the house ($60 worth), call and make a report. (We later find out that every year there are at least 20 calls before/after Halloween for stolen pumpkins. This year, we were the only ones!!!!)
Monday nite: Come home to find pumpkins smashed all over front landing and driveway. I go outside and throw out about $30 worth of mums and gords we had left (so no one could rip them up all over my house). We now have no fall decorations left. I didn't call the police or go to the house that took the pumpkins (they left all my stolen pumpkins on the curb right in front of their house on the same street as me!! One looked like it was cut in have with a machete, but the rest where still whole ) because a house went on fire on our street that same nite.

Tuesday nite: A detective calls asking if anything else happens, and I tell him about the smashed pumpkins from Monday nite, and mention to him that I found my pumpkins on the same street, about 15 houses away (not even thinking that he would want to go over there... DUH!!!). He says hes going to take a drive down there, and I hear nother else about it.
9pm: An office knocks on my door asking why we called. WE DIDN'T CALL!! So now I don't know if someone called the cops to our house for yet another prank, or what. It could have been the detective sending the officer there just to check on us, but at 9 a nite? And he knew nothing about the detective.... very very strange. One thing that came of the officer coming over was I found out a lot about my tiny little dead on street. Apparently a lot of wierd stuff goes on that we don't even know about!!!!!


Today I will be calling the detective to ask if he sent the officer to my house last night, and if not, to have the call traced to find out who called them out here. I think its a federal offence to do that?!

This is just so crazy. I was upset about losing my pumpkins, but I didn't want all this to happen!! Next year I will not be putting out any decorations, and I may keep my lights off on Halloween....

doesn't that mean you made a report

 

[Becky2005]

The officer said that they had recieved a call to come to our house - our address. If it wasnt US that called, who did? He did say that it was something to do with stolen pumpkins, and we figured that maybe the detective had put an order in for someone to check up on us or something.... but he knew nothing about the fact that I had spoken to the detective, or anything about it. Just strange.

Definitely odd...I'm wondering now if it was a specific call that happened after you called originally OR maybe it was your first call he was talking about & since it wasn't an emergency, just trickled over to him to "go to this address to check out about some stolen pumpkins when you get a chance". Just a thought. It is weird, I will say that. I don't know if I would do much else about it and just let it be.

 

[nutterbutter2010]

Definitely odd...I'm wondering now if it was a specific call that happened after you called originally OR maybe it was your first call he was talking about & since it wasn't an emergency, just trickled over to him to "go to this address to check out about some stolen pumpkins when you get a chance". Just a thought. It is weird, I will say that. I don't know if I would do much else about it and just let it be.

I guess anything is possible. The only thing, an officer came out to our house on Sunday (when we made the call). The only other call, was the detective calling us. In that call, he said HE was going to drive by the suspected house, but said NOTHING about coming to my house, and even said that only if he found something would he bother to contact us back again. Thats why I thought it was over and done with. I just really want to know the origins of why the officer came to the house last night. If he was just checking up on us per the detective, why so late at night, KWIM?

 

[Jennasis]

You people. You're just too much.

There is another thread floating around here in which everyone is opining WHY DIDN'T ANYONE SEE THIS COMING?? SOOOO MANY RED FLAGS!

Six months from now, when the OP is dealing with slashed tires, stolen patio furniture, broken windows etc etc, and thinks it's the same punk who stole her pumpkins last Halloween, all of you "it's just pumpkins" folks will be chastising her for not filling out a police report over the pumpkins to start a paper trail.

Document document document...right? That's the mantra of the know-it-alls here isn't it? Everytime someone has to deal with harassment. THIS instance may be small, but it could very easily become somethign big (or not). Make a report, keep a paper trail.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I guess anything is possible. The only thing, an officer came out to our house on Sunday (when we made the call). The only other call, was the detective calling us. In that call, he said HE was going to drive by the suspected house, but said NOTHING about coming to my house, and even said that only if he found something would he bother to contact us back again. Thats why I thought it was over and done with. I just really want to know the origins of why the officer came to the house last night. If he was just checking up on us per the detective, why so late at night, KWIM?

I think you have a good point. I'd ask the detective about it. If someone else called it in, it will more than likely be the culprit. The detective could get to the bottom of it.

Anyway, if someone else did call it in (the culprit) the person is playing games with you. It would be beyond Halloween hijinks. And I would be concerned.

 

[JR6ooo4]

for all the OP haters...

if it was your child who was the blossoming delinquent, and you did not know. wouldn't you rather he/she was caught and corrected for such a small crime; rather than when they break a car window, and take an ipod, and then get caught?

The dollar amount for theft to be considered a felony is a lot lower now.

and it is not the dollar amount, it is the violation of personal space.

Mikeeee

 

[nutterbutter2010]

I just want to say thanks to everyone who understands where I'm coming from. I came from a very nice very rich neighborhood, and we never had anything like this. I now live in a very nice, not as rich neighborhood, but still never expected anythig like this at all. I have to get going now, so I won't be posting, but let you know what I find out as soon as I know!!!

Thanks again guys, at least some of you made me feel better about all this!! HUGS!

 

[JerseyJanice]

However this shakes out, I think that next year, you need to shop around for a better price on pumpkins. $70 or even $60 seems like an awfully high price to pay unless you got like 20 of them. We bought only one very large pumpkin this year and paid $3.99 for it at the supermarket.

 

[disykat]

Yes she does...and I don't blamer her!! Why is everyone bashing the OP??? If you have kids vandalizing and they get away with it the first time, they will continue to do it!! It was wrong and I dont blame her for calling. The response of the vandals is even worse!! And I would have called the cops again! At this point I blame the parents..who let the kids act like little terrorists!

I have a co-worker who's pumpkin was stolen before the holiday, it was at her bf's house. There were lots of other issues with theft from cars..nails on the driveway etc.. But they have done nothing about it! They know who is doing it too. I would call the cops to put a stop to it..but that is just me.

And it is a cops job to investigate vandalism..not a waste of their resources!! That is why the OP pays taxes!! It isn't like she was calling for nothing!!

The respones here and on the OT just amaze me .

ITA! Whenever we have vandalism, we call and report it. They log it onto their books. If a pattern develops, they investigate. They had an article several years ago in our local paper with police interviews talking about how people have to report! They WANT people to report. They often find when they start investigating stuff that people say "that's been happening for years" and the police had no idea until it escalated.