Photo by Mary Walton
By Charles Layton
The woman who posted this sign on utility poles around Ocean Grove has a story to tell.
“On Thursday at 2 a.m.,” she said, “I was downstairs watching TV. I had fallen asleep. My husband came down the stairs, and there was a man in the dining room, like about eight feet from me.
“I have briefcases — I work in different places, so I have a briefcase for each place. The thief grabbed them and ran out the door.”
The woman told me she never actually saw the man, but as she woke up she heard her husband yelling, “Get out! Drop those things!” She said her husband chased the thief out of the house but then lost him in the darkness. The couple figures he must have gotten in through a side door to the kitchen, and that this door was probably unlocked at the time.
She was astonished that the intruder had the audacity to walk right in, even at that late hour, because “Clearly the TV was on, so he must have known somebody was in the house.”
When the police came, they informed the couple that just half an hour earlier there had been another, similar robbery just down the street. In that case, “The person was at home, having a drink on his porch. They’re coming in while we’re home! I don’t like robbery at any time, but this is particularly frightening.”
She made up about 20 signs like the one pictured above and has posted them around town. Her thinking is that the thief might have emptied the four bags of their contents and then hastily thrown the bags away. So at least she hopes she might get the bags back.
She and her husband have lived in Ocean Grove for 12 years. She said they have had six bicycles stolen during that time. They are also somewhat aware of the recent wave of thefts in town, and they find that disheartening.
“We’re here because we like the values of this community,” she said, “and we want to live peacefully here in God’s square mile.”
If this story has a bright side, it’s that nothing of real value was in the stolen bags — mostly just paperwork. “And,” she said, “nobody was hurt, that’s a good thing.”
Anyone who finds one of her stolen bags should call 732-776-7360.