Had to deal with the police again. Very unpleasant; I don't like some confrontations as they make me feel marked for any retalitory hostilities. But, I felt I owed it to my neighbor to be....neighborly.
It was shortly after finishing work last night - about 1:30 am. I hear a crash - like something hitting masonry. Immediately thinking that my planters were hit by something (notably the yo-yo from December), I looked out the window to see a car in my neighbor's lawn across the street. Based on where they were, I figured the mailbox had been hit (which is brick).
I watched this car attempt to get of the lawn and go down the street a bit. Then they did a series of forwards, backwards things. Now I debated whether I should call the police now or try to get the license plate number. I opted for the plates, since I really didn't have all that much information to give to the police. Maybe not the best choice, but at 1:30 am I'm not making best choices anyway.
MORE MORE
I went out the back and took the alley way until I came near the car. By this time, it was hanging around a specific house and people were around it. Figured they knew the homeowners there and they were assessing the damage. So, I attempted to sneak around and catch a glimpse of the plates from a distance, which didn't work: with the people milling around and the car going forwards and reverse. I waited for them to disperse, after several minutes, and went up and got the plates.
Went to my neighbor's place and saw the former mailbox - looked like the bottom third was taken out from under it - and grabbed a peice of the car. Attempted to wake them up with the doorbell, but no answer. Wrote them a note and called the police.
Cops came and found the car and talked with the people. I guess drinking was involved (not a surprise), but since they were not in the car at the time (they were inside) they couldn't be arrested for DWI -b ased on the fact that the city couldn't legally prove that the blood alcohol level was that level during driving and not from drinking after the fact.
Luckily all that was done was one mailbox was broken and a car was damaged. And, my neighbor has the peice of mind that the other party will be repairing their mailbox.
Posted by haglund at February 5, 2005 10:07 AM