I called the cops on my neighbours..

and considering what they were up to, I think I was justified. Last Friday night, right at the beginning of the Easter weekend, I had fallen asleep while reading in bed but was woken up by a lot of neighbourhood dogs barking, including my own. Just as I was coming to, Dael knocked and entered my room to say that he heard banging at our bottom neighbours house. I checked the clock as I moved to french doors to peer out. 11.30pm!

My house is on a hill and my garden has a lot of greenery behind which one can hide to peruse the neighbourhood. Yes, I am like that! The neighbours in question are downhill and over the road. Dael didn't want me to go outside. "How can I see whats going on if I don't go outside". So he let me go. I went as far as the fence and although I could hear voices, I couldn't hear what they were saying or see anything. So I went back to my french door where Dael was waiting. Just then two figures came into view in the yard of the house next door to where I thought the banging was coming from. Dael and I ducked down and peeped over the rim of the edge of our lawn. The two figures were the son and the father from the house next door to the house where they were now and I realised that these neighbours were away for the weekend as the same light had been on since earlier that day.

Strangely, the father who is over 40 with a big belly was clad only in either underpants or a Speedo costume with a duvet thrown around his shoulders. Father and son inspected the semi-open windows of the room with the light on and then the father disappeared around to the front of the house. The son started to fiddle with the window of an adjacent room at the front of the house right under an outside light. Just then whatever he was doing seemed to work and the entire window glass fell out with a crash. I was so outraged at the thought of these characters burgling their neighbours (who are their friends) that I decided to phone the cops. I tried the usual cellphone emergency number which I remembered as being 112. No luck - that didn't work. I even tried to phone the security provider of the house being broken into. I ran out of air time. So in desperation, I tried the usual emergency number of 10111 which I didn't think I could get through to on a cellphone. And it worked. I logged my complaint and went to watch again and wait for the police to arrive.

By this time the father had arrived back to the scene of the break in. He managed to step in the broken glass with his bare feet and he and the son spent some time inspecting the cut. Then he started unscrewing the burglar guard. Eventually the burglar guard fell into the room with a crash sending the dad sprawling over the edge of the window onto his big bare belly and probably onto some more broken glass. The dad was so drunk though (according to Dael) that he probably didn't even feel it.

The alarm went off and dad went off through the house, switching on the room light as he went. The son climbed in behind him, set the burglar guard back in place and closed the curtain. The alarm went off and so did the room light. I was frustrated as the police hadn't arrived yet (20 mins!) and phoned again. Dael was nervous, warning me to stay low. The son kept on climbing out the window and going round the house and climbing back in again. Dael thought he heard the front sliding door open and I envisaged these two reprobates emptying the house of its valuables and putting them over the wall into their own yard. What would you think?

Eventually I heard a vehicle coming slowly up the road and past my house and I ran for my driveway. Dael was holding me back but eventually came down the drive with me as the police were looking for my house. A double cab with 3 policemen in it had arrived. I explained the situation and they moved forward to park in the driveway of the house being broken into with their headlights on. Dael and I were up at the top again and watching. We heard the cops cock their guns, ready for action. They moved up and down the outside of the wall, looking over for a few minutes before they scaled the gate and moved towards the broken window. They were searching the front of the house for signs of movement. I saw one policeman waiting outside the yard on the verge and went down to talk quietly to him when just then, the son popped out from the side of the house. "There's a mistake. We're looking after the house for the weekend" he was saying as he walked. The cop saw him and shouted "STOP!" The son reared back as if he had been stung and stopped walking. I shouted "Where's your key?" and then decided to leave the cops to it. As we went home, another police vehicle came cruising by but seeing that the scene was covered, they continued on. It doesn't rain but it pours. Obviously, 2 calls, 2 vehicles! But neither were early. The cops went with the son to the window where he again climbed in after telling his story and the police phoned the owners who apparently confirmed the story that these reprobates were looking after the house.

They left the premises but stopped to talk to me as I was still on my driveway. They were somewhat amused and confounded at the entire scene. Apparently the sister had the key for the house but was out with her friends and obviously father and son couldn't wait for her and decided to break in. One long window glass later! The cops left then and peace returned although after that excitement I wasn't a bit tired. At about 1.30am, the sister and her friends arrived and she started swearing and shouting about the broken window with the son explaining why it had happened. Happy families...

Well obviously I had gone out to watch again. And you can be sure, even if you are my neighbour, if I see you breaking into a house, I WILL call the cops on you!