So last night DH and I were asleep when I heard loud banging on our neighbor's door (we live in a triplex, and there are 'bad neighbors' from one side, two women who always have visitors at odd hours at night). After a couple of minutes I thought I heard someone walking through *our* apartment! I woke DH up, he thought I was mistaken, but got up to look; sure enough, our front door was wide open, and my purse was missing In that purse I had all my ccs, cash, notebook, mp3 player, 2 pairs of tights I bought at the Gap and my new Miu Miu shoes. I was too lazy to take them out of the bag last night... We called the police and filed a report but the policewoman could not really help. We thought we heard someone go inside the neighbor's apartment, but the police are not authorized to go into people's apartments unless invited, and she of course did not open the door. So here I am at 2AM frantically cancelling my ccs and bemoaning the loss of my shoes and purse (that hurt most for some reason)... At 3AM we heard a hesitant knock on our door... Sure enough, our neighbour was there mumbling something about following the man who entered my apartment (how did she know?!) - and asking for money. DH pretended to believe her story and gave her some money. She brought my purse (claimed she found it by following the criminal). Everything was in there -mp3 player, keys, even the shoes - except cash, and, weirdly enough, my two new pairs of tights (in purple and blue, btw). We pretended to believe her story and she went away. Grrr. We are renting from a company who did not tell us anything about those neighbors, and they are a real nuisance (we suspect they engage in prostitution); the company does not really want them gone for some reason, so they brush us off and ignore our calls... DH and I think we should move out of there ASAP. It's a pity because I love my apartment, it has this cool vintage vibe... and I hate moving
We probably didn't lock the front door ( I know its stupid but we lived for 3 years in a great neighborhood where nobody locked their doors... not an excuse). As for the police, they won't investigate. The police came to that apt many times already but nothing ever came of it. I once overheard a conversation between her and a policeman- she called the police to report that a taxi driver harrassed her and she had to jump out of the cab; the policeman caught her at some lies and found out that she jumped out of the taxi because she did not want to pay -the harrassment story was made up. She's crazy, plus there's the prostitution issue (too many males coming at weird hours like 2AM, 3AM - may be drugs though).
Our previous apartment was really not comfy (low ceilings, dark) but the neighborhood was great and the landlords became our best friends. This apartment is simply beautiful, but the neighbor issue sucks (the neighborhood is actually OK, but not best). We can't afford to pay more than we're paying now, which is 900$, for as long as I am in grad school, so I am afraid that if we move we will get unlucky again... Why does everybody want to live in Berkeley?! It's not quiet, there are plenty of drugs, but not as much excitement as in San Francisco... the city is rather dirty and can be unpleasant... You can tell I am ready to graduate and get on with my life
Either it was her, or it was one of her "guests" whom she knew. DH and his boss think it was her (my lost Gap tights support this theory), I thought it might be a male who stole the purse, but she forced him to return almost everything because she didn't want trouble with neighbors and police. It was quite clear she was not telling the truth. She said she followed the burglar "here and there" to find the lost bag, but its not clear why would she do it at 2AM, nor how she would know that something was stolen, fast enough to actually follow him! Plus, she vas vehemently opposed to the idea of telling her story to the police.
You should definitely tip off the police to the incident with your neighbor. You have two witnesses. Oh, and I think I would consider moving. That woman sounds crazy! I'm sorry that happened to you.