So I got to ride in the back of a cop car....
And another round of thanks to the Winter Garden Police Department!
If ever complain about the noise my trike's little motor makes again, please feel free to hit me, hard. Because that noise is why I got the trike back.
I'd just gotten out of the shower and was about to start catching up on some emails when I heard a familiar sound. Wait, I thought. That sounds like my trike - and made it to the balcony just in time to see my trike, with me not on it, riding off. For one horrified moment of disbelief I thought that maybe, just maybe, one of the neighbors had decided to buy a trike just like mine, so I grabbed my cane and went downstairs to verify that yes, my trike was missing, burst into unhelpful tears and called 911. The maintenance guy saw me and told me sharply to sit down. I told him my trike had been stolen and he too started making calls.
By an incredible, amazing stroke of good luck, just as I was calling 911 (who aside from being unclear as to what county Winter Garden is actually in, did a pretty good job), a detective in an unmarked vehicle just happened to be sitting beside the middle school just outside our complex, and saw the thief riding past on my trike. My trike, with me on or not on it, is kinda distinctive - it's large, purple blue and, well, it's a motorized trike. It gets looks, and it got a look from the cop. So when the call went out from 911, he immediately recognized it, and called two cops who just happened to be refueling at the spot just behind the middle school, and everyone went tearing off and caught the kid on the West Orange Trail - less than half a mile off.
Meanwhile, I posted my first infuriated entry just before another cop arrived at my place. We headed downstairs again and looked at where the trike had been taken - to find the damaged bike lock - the thief had picked the lock but not well. The cop said he thought the trike had been located. We went back up the stairs to get my ID and my house keys. Then back down the stairs, where I climbed into the back of the police car. The cop let everyone know that he had a small, blonde female in her early 20s non suspect(yay!) in the back of the car (the vastly underestimated age guess was the best part of this) and then we drove to the trike, which by that time was surrounded by two cop cars, several kids and a few curious cyclists.
Incidentally, the back of a cop car? Not the most comfortable place.
To be honest, I wasn't able to recognize the thief - I'd been so focused on the trike that I'd absolutely failed to do the useful thing of paying attention to who had been taking it, but luckily, the cops, less emotionally involved, had been paying more attention, and were able to identify the main kid and his chief accomplice - and took the names of the other kids as well.
And yes, I said kid. The thief in question is a 15 year old middle schooler. I was asked not to name him, so I won't, but I will say that just a couple of months ago he was caught and convicted of stealing a cop car and joy riding it all the way to Groveland (I'm so glad my trike doesn't go that quickly.)
For one moment, I was so relieved to have the trike back I thought that I should be nice and forgiving - I mean, he's just a kid - and then I thought, yes, but what if I hadn't been lucky? I would have been completely stuck for at least two weeks (the trike has to be shipped from California and then assembled by people who know what they're doing), not to mention having to pay for a new trike, which right now would be a severe financial hit for me. And, well, he's not seven. (And I could tell that the cops wanted me to press charges.)
Eventually, I was allowed to rescue my trike, although by this time I was having an attack of completely appropriate tachycardia so I was a bit dizzy. When I reached the trike, I realized that it had gained several items that weren't mine - DVDs, Wii games, an umbrella and a bag that both the cops and I are fairly sure did not belong to this kid. (It had a distinct older female tinge to it.) The cops removed that stuff. By that time, it had started to rain. The trike and I don't deal well in the rain, and it seemed to take forever to get back.
Once back, we locked up the trike again, then headed upstairs to fill out my statement. Alas, the Little One kept headbutting the cop while I was trying to fill out my statement, which was not helpful.
C and D showed up shortly after the cops left and took me out for much needed bookstore comforting, and then we celebrated C's birthday with more friends, cake and some Arkham Horror, which is actually a damn fine way to finish a day that included a ride with a cop car.
So all's well. The cop doesn't think I'll have to show up in court - he says that generally these things get plea bargained out, and I have my trike back.
Off to get a new lock and also deal with the other irritation of yesterday, Cigna, and then, Oasis.
If ever complain about the noise my trike's little motor makes again, please feel free to hit me, hard. Because that noise is why I got the trike back.
I'd just gotten out of the shower and was about to start catching up on some emails when I heard a familiar sound. Wait, I thought. That sounds like my trike - and made it to the balcony just in time to see my trike, with me not on it, riding off. For one horrified moment of disbelief I thought that maybe, just maybe, one of the neighbors had decided to buy a trike just like mine, so I grabbed my cane and went downstairs to verify that yes, my trike was missing, burst into unhelpful tears and called 911. The maintenance guy saw me and told me sharply to sit down. I told him my trike had been stolen and he too started making calls.
By an incredible, amazing stroke of good luck, just as I was calling 911 (who aside from being unclear as to what county Winter Garden is actually in, did a pretty good job), a detective in an unmarked vehicle just happened to be sitting beside the middle school just outside our complex, and saw the thief riding past on my trike. My trike, with me on or not on it, is kinda distinctive - it's large, purple blue and, well, it's a motorized trike. It gets looks, and it got a look from the cop. So when the call went out from 911, he immediately recognized it, and called two cops who just happened to be refueling at the spot just behind the middle school, and everyone went tearing off and caught the kid on the West Orange Trail - less than half a mile off.
Meanwhile, I posted my first infuriated entry just before another cop arrived at my place. We headed downstairs again and looked at where the trike had been taken - to find the damaged bike lock - the thief had picked the lock but not well. The cop said he thought the trike had been located. We went back up the stairs to get my ID and my house keys. Then back down the stairs, where I climbed into the back of the police car. The cop let everyone know that he had a small, blonde female in her early 20s non suspect(yay!) in the back of the car (the vastly underestimated age guess was the best part of this) and then we drove to the trike, which by that time was surrounded by two cop cars, several kids and a few curious cyclists.
Incidentally, the back of a cop car? Not the most comfortable place.
To be honest, I wasn't able to recognize the thief - I'd been so focused on the trike that I'd absolutely failed to do the useful thing of paying attention to who had been taking it, but luckily, the cops, less emotionally involved, had been paying more attention, and were able to identify the main kid and his chief accomplice - and took the names of the other kids as well.
And yes, I said kid. The thief in question is a 15 year old middle schooler. I was asked not to name him, so I won't, but I will say that just a couple of months ago he was caught and convicted of stealing a cop car and joy riding it all the way to Groveland (I'm so glad my trike doesn't go that quickly.)
For one moment, I was so relieved to have the trike back I thought that I should be nice and forgiving - I mean, he's just a kid - and then I thought, yes, but what if I hadn't been lucky? I would have been completely stuck for at least two weeks (the trike has to be shipped from California and then assembled by people who know what they're doing), not to mention having to pay for a new trike, which right now would be a severe financial hit for me. And, well, he's not seven. (And I could tell that the cops wanted me to press charges.)
Eventually, I was allowed to rescue my trike, although by this time I was having an attack of completely appropriate tachycardia so I was a bit dizzy. When I reached the trike, I realized that it had gained several items that weren't mine - DVDs, Wii games, an umbrella and a bag that both the cops and I are fairly sure did not belong to this kid. (It had a distinct older female tinge to it.) The cops removed that stuff. By that time, it had started to rain. The trike and I don't deal well in the rain, and it seemed to take forever to get back.
Once back, we locked up the trike again, then headed upstairs to fill out my statement. Alas, the Little One kept headbutting the cop while I was trying to fill out my statement, which was not helpful.
C and D showed up shortly after the cops left and took me out for much needed bookstore comforting, and then we celebrated C's birthday with more friends, cake and some Arkham Horror, which is actually a damn fine way to finish a day that included a ride with a cop car.
So all's well. The cop doesn't think I'll have to show up in court - he says that generally these things get plea bargained out, and I have my trike back.
Off to get a new lock and also deal with the other irritation of yesterday, Cigna, and then, Oasis.