Dear Editor,
On Tuesday, Nov. 18, our 8 foot snow plow was stolen from in front of our garage on Hummer Road in broad daylight. This is the second time in a year that equipment from our landscape company has been stolen. During Thanksgiving weekend last year, $30,000 worth of our equipment was stolen from a locked landscape yard. Unfortunately, insurance covered only a fraction of our losses so we’ve had to build our business anew.
I am writing because I am fed up. I’m tired of living in a good community tarnished by multiple break-ins and robberies in the crime beat. I’m disgusted that I now have to worry that the cars are locked up and our doors are dead bolted even in the middle of the day. What I wouldn’t give to see the creeps that violated my family brought to justice.
I am writing to the spineless thieves who believe that they can simply steal what has taken honest, hardworking people years and years to earn. There is a certain human decency in respecting other’s belongings. There is a feeling of pride when you can look in the mirror and know that you put in an honest day’s work and earned the food you put on the table. To the filthy animals that stalk our neighborhoods and case our homes for their next big heist: how does it feel to be a cheat? How does it feel to pawn the jewelry stolen from a woman who has had it in her family for generations? How does it feel to sell perfectly good equipment to the scrapyard? How does it feel to invade someone’s home, knowing that you have violated their privacy and permanently given the children nightmares, afraid that a robber will break in at night?
Unfortunately, as our economy falters, so too has my sense of security. I am writing to the good people of Brandon, Groveland and Goodrich. I encourage us all to keep an eye out for the strange vehicle that slowly drives down our streets. If you see an unfamiliar person at your neighbor’s house, don’t be afraid to call your neighbor and check in. And please, lock your vehicles and your doors! We can send a strong message to these crooks that we have had enough!
Andrea Austin
Ortonville