I was just burglarized by 4 black kids

[uniballin]

OK, now that all the adrenaline is out of my system, here's what happened.

I was upstairs surfing the internet when I heard a knock on the front door. I went downstairs, looked out the window, and didn't see anyone. This happens maybe once a week, so I just figured it was some kids fucking around.

At this time, I had no idea if any of my 3 roommates were home since I was in my room for the last couple hours working on a website for one of my classes. Around 10 minutes after the knock, I heard a noise downstairs. It sounded like someone dropped something. I have a roommate who lives downstairs so I assumed it was him. I then heard what sounded like a female voice, and again, assumed it was my roommate's girlfriend. I then heard multiple female voices and realized that they weren't female voices, they were little kids. I grabbed my glock out of my holster, told my roommate Jon who is in the next room over to call the police, and that I'm going downstairs.

I slowly began to descend the stairs with the gun in the raised position, but the stairs must have creaked when I stepped on the second or third step. They bolted down the hall, but I didn't rush after them since they were retreating. Besides, what if there was one waiting for me around the corner with a knife or gun ready to ambush me? I cleared the living room and the back hallway which they escaped through. The only way out of our backyard was through the side lot, so I went out the front door to see if I could catch a glimpse of the kids.

I must have looked like Edward Norton from American History X, minus the built physique and the swastika tattoo. I stood on my front porch in my boxers, holding the hand gun, and that's when I saw 4 kids walking nonchalantly across the street from the side lot. One of them turned around and saw me, and they bolted around the corner. As they were running, I was spouting off their description and clothes while my roommate was relaying the information over the phone to the officer.

A female cop finally shows up and I give her the run down on what happened. The kids managed to get the X-Box 360. Bastards. Two more city cops show up, but before they can get through my front door, they see 2 black males running across the street. The cops run off my stoop, chase them down, and make them get on the ground with their hands on their heads. They called me over and asked me if these were the guys. It wasn't them.

At this point, 2 more city cops show up along with 2 Temple Police officers. I had my gun on the coffee table and I knew the Temple cops were going to be a pain in the ass. The female Temple cop finally breaks the ice:

Her: Who's gun is that on the table?
Me: Mine.
Her: You have a license for that?
Me: Yes.
Her *in a sarcastic tone*: Um, can you go get it?
Me: What does that have to do with the situation at hand?
Her: Can you please show it to me.
Me: I'm in my own house, I don't need to show you my license.
Her *in a pissed off tone*: Well, the police are in your house now!
Me: Uhhh... (I was completely baffled at this point).

I realized this was stifling the investigation and every wasted moment those kids were getting further away, so I succumbed to her demand. After she looked at it, her and the other Temple cop left the premises. I'm glad they were so helpful and decided to show up just to harass the victim!

The original female cop left while I gave my report to the two other cops. An older, black male LEO was the one taking down my information. He asked me if I had my "registration" for the gun.

Me: What do you mean?
Him: I need to see your registration, you know, to make sure it's yours.
Me: There is no gun registry in PA.
Him: Uh...
Me: It's just a record of sales database that is often use as an incomplete gun registry.
Him: Alright, alright.

He wasn't as stubborn as the female Temple cop. He was funny though. He kept making comments about "how I should have shot them" and how "they were lucky as shit that they didn't run into me."

The cops told me that they caught some kids in the surrounding area and wanted me to drive around with them to see if I could ID them. I feel bad for any groups of kids playing outside in my neighborhood at the time, because the cops must have detained around 10 kids total within a 5 block radius. The officer drove me from location to location, rolling down the window and asking if any of them were the ones. Unfortunately, none of them were the 4 that I saw run across the side lot.

I have been preparing for this situation for a while, and it finally happened. I have to say I am proud of myself. I was clear headed the whole time and my hands were steady. One of the cops made a joke about "how would you have been able to shoot them if you're shaking so bad." I lifted up my arm, and said "what shaking?" He said he was just messing with me. I still think he was a dickhead though.

I have to admit, those little fuckers were smart. They took a panel out of our back fence to get into the property, stood on the AC, opened the top part of the window, and somehow smashed open the bars. The first thing they did was open the back door for an easy escape. They were gone like bats out of hell by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs. Our landlord is coming over tomorrow to install stronger bars on all of our downstairs windows.

I can only hope that there isn't a next time, but if there is, I'm ready. Another forum member said I could borrow his AK-47... I'm thinking about taking him up on that offer.

[General Geoff]

Invest in double deadbolts for your doors, and maybe a couple of cheap wireless cameras that have a motion detect function...

[andrewjs18]

Originally Posted by General Geoff

Invest in double deadbolts for your doors, and maybe a couple of cheap wireless cameras that have a motion detect function...

that, or even a motion sensor spot light.....

thieves will pull out all the stops to get what they want..I'm glad you weren't hurt..yeah, they took your console, but that can be replaced...

[fireblast713]

What good is an AK47 going to do you, in the dark it's probably worst than a glock for home clearing and the FMJ's will punch through walls like they're paper. Additionally you had your pistol at the time you were being burglarized, you didn't see the situation as being fit to use it (probably because they were kids). If you ever catch them again they will most likely run again, and in following your decision process in the first encounter it's unlikely you'll have a chance to use a gun. So why get a bigger gun? I don't see the advantage of having an AK47 in this situation other then having the media cast you as a crazed gun fanatic using "armor piercing bullets" if anything does go down. I say invest in better security/locks.

BTW the LEO's sound like they were being jerks... you were not the criminal nor should you have been under any suspicion... but sadly this is the world we live in

[uniballin]

Originally Posted by fireblast713

What good is an AK47 going to do you, in the dark it's probably worst than a glock for home clearing and the FMJ's will punch through walls like they're paper. Additionally you had your pistol at the time you were being burglarized, you didn't see the situation as being fit to use it (probably because they were kids). If you ever catch them again they will most likely run again, and in following your decision process in the first encounter it's unlikely you'll have a chance to use a gun. So why get a bigger gun? I don't see the advantage of having an AK47 in this situation other then having the media cast you as a crazed gun fanatic using "armor piercing bullets" if anything does go down. I say invest in better security/locks.

It was sort of a joke. Sorry, should have made it more obvious .

Yea, we're getting all new bars on the downstairs windows. We have a security system but we only turn it on when no one is home. I never would have expected this would have happened while two of us were in the house.

[Steve_NEPhila]

It may be good to harden the old homestead up a little bit. However, consider getting a canine friend who protests loudly at the presence of any outsiders may be your biggest help. Even a beagle barking his ass off is better then being surprised again.

Look on the bright side, perhaps this was a cheap lesson. You survived, the cops did not lock you up and it is not like the kids stole a PS3

As for the cops, that is seriously shitty. I remember getting lectured by a Philly cop for getting rear ended while I was sitting on my motorcycle at a red light on the boulevard by an 83 year old man.

[General Geoff]

What good is an AK47 going to do you, in the dark it's probably worst than a glock for home clearing and the FMJ's will punch through walls like they're paper.

A short rifle like an AK is no worse for maneuverability than a pistol in tight corridors. Furthermore, any centerfire pistol round will also punch through sheet rock walls like paper. So will a shotgun with buckshot. In fact, if overpenetration is a big concern, an AR-15 would be your best bet. .223/5.56 has been shown to penetrate fewer walls than 9mm ball.

[Ten*K]

any weapon you use would be labeled as an AK-47, so you might as well buy one if you can find one at a decent price. Of course, you had better hope they little shitheads don't steal THAT.

[Al-Mumit]

Originally Posted by Ten*K

any weapon you use would be labeled as an AK-47, so you might as well buy one if you can find one at a decent price. Of course, you had better hope they little shitheads don't steal THAT.

Indeed, when my place got broken into (in accordance with statistics, by some asshole I knew) the prick went right for the guns. Same happened to my roommate in his old house.

No real need for an AK anyway if you already have a handgun. Can't think of one advantage the AK would have, other than the fact that you're more likely to hit them if they run like bats our of hell (illegal) or if they're wearing body armor (unlikely). Sure, it holds more rounds... but how many rounds do you think you're going to need in such a situation? We're talking burglary here, not home invasion.

Also... erm... 4 black kids? Why not just 4 kids? What's the difference? I mean, had it been 4 white kids, would you have said that? Sorry, just a pet peeve...

[YBNORMAL]

Originally Posted by Al-Mumit

Also... erm... 4 black kids? Why not just 4 kids? What's the difference? I mean, had it been 4 white kids, would you have said that? Sorry, just a pet peeve...

I thought about this too, and without derailing the thread, I have no problem with it.

"black" is an adjective, same as "old" or "fat" or "short". So saying "black" isnt unPC, its just a description. And calling somebody out for "it", is just perpetuating inequality.

Next time you get robbed, please DO say it was by "white" kids (if it was), that way everyone knows one "descriptor" of who to look for.

When people start thinking that every black person is a thief, because 4 "black" people robbed Uniballin, then said people have a problem.