We were robbed!

This subject really makes me angry. In the past, many things (guns, wood burner, generator, batterys,ect.) have been stolen from me and noone has ever been caught. I went to the sheriff directly and declared "war" in a 2 mi. radius of my homestead and posted it in the local newspaper. I demanded the sheriff dept. to patrol my area or someone was going to get hurt really bad. I told them if they can't do their job, I'll do it for them. I held 2 people at gunpoint untill the sheriff dept. arrived on a twp. road. One of the guys tried to press charges aginst me. Being that my notice was posted in the paper and the sheriff was informed of the status I proclaimed, there was nothing the guy could do. I also put a bounty out and made that public notice. This is bonded so payment is assured. This includes trespassers also. The thought of the bounty makes the neighbors keep their eyes open for me. Any time I call the sheriff they send 2 units because they know I mean business. I also gave the sheriff a written notice that if anyone is caught on my property and I'm not around, cuff 'um and stuff 'um and I will press charges. This gives them the freedom to arrest without me being there. They caught two of my friends on 4-wheelers one day while I was at work and they were processed. I don't cut no slack. I can't be partial. :no:

Thanks for the condolences.

We did report to the sheriff office, it took them three hours to arrive to take a report! He was not enthused about our suggestion to try and get fingerprints, luckily my DH found a glass that had an obvious fingerprint for him to take with him back to the station. Whether it will just sit on a shelf or actually be used to try and find the crook remains to be seen!

Thanks for the suggestions, we have 4 big dogs that will be patrolling the property when we are fully moved onto the site so I think that will help. And I like the idea about the shotgun practice

One of our neighbors (lives about 3 miles from us) told us there is a huge problem with theft in the area, though he thinks it is bored kids rather than drug users. He also told us that Washington still has a law on the books that it is legal to shoot anyone trying to steal your animals, so I don't hink we need to worry about horse wrestling!

Just by way of reassurance--we live just a few minutes from the freeway north of Olympia, in an area that has a couple large farms kept for nostalgia sake--borders the Indian reservaton, and Military lands-- and has a mix of mobile parks, tiny homesteads, and a couple townlike neighborhoods. Ten years ago there was a lot of drug activity down here, but that is slowly turning around with diligence from those of us who live here. Our place is right on one of the main roads, but with a gate, sturdy pasture fencing, and two blue heeler dogs, we have had no trouble whatsoever with anyone coming on our place. Once you get there and can be permanent you should be okay---but the thieves down here had a network that took advantage of any situation for their gain--took all of us banding together to make sure we knew who our neighbors are, and watching out for each other that has made the difference. Hope it goes better for you from here on out!

of all the people I know, the only ones who have been robbed live in the most rural area (and MOST of us live in rural areas). After being robbed numerous times and her very big dogs beaten, she decided to change shifts at work to the opposite of what her husband worked so there would always be someone at home. Of course she never saw her husband, a fairly large price I thought.

They always figured it was a neighbors teen but were never really able to pin it on anyone.

I think it is probably EASIER to steal and get away with it in the country, no closeby neighbors to see and identify you. I think only a video system would help in the long run, how many of us ignore those car alarms? They are always going off. The video system wouldn't stop them unless the noticed it soon enough, but it would catch them.

Good luck,

Mel-

You'd be surprised as to who is actually doing the stealing - we all were. A few years back, a man that I had gone to grade school and high school with was arrested for theft. He would drive a couple hundred miles away from home and "case" the rural areas - find out a few things and come back later with intentions and wherewithal to take valuable stuff and re-sell it. Machinery and anything else that wasn't actually tied down. He lived a good life and we all thought it was because he was an astute business man. He really turned out to be a clumsy thief who preyed on the rural areas because he knew their patterns and took advantage of them. So... just be alert and remember that you can replace everything but a life (I consider something that I've worked for by using up the hours in my life as payment to be my life) but don't lose your love for your neighbors.