I want to send out a big thank you to those who contacted the police when they saw some suspicious characters lurking around our homes on a recent Friday.

I returned from a short trip to find four police cars surrounding two guys in the green belt area. As I drove by, I was thinking to myself, “I’m glad they got caught having no thought or idea of what they did.” After I passed them, I began to wonder if they did anything to my place?

My heart started to race a little as I entered my house, wondering what I might find. As I looked around inside, nothing appeared missing or out of place. I thought there was no need to look any further.

I wasn’t home more than about 10 minutes when I heard a knock at the door. It was one of the officers and as I opened the sliding door, I was able to see it had some damage and evidence that someone had pried it open and broke in.

The officer asked me if I noticed anything missing, which I had not since I just returned. He asked if I had any coins or jewelry, and I told him I did keep loose coins upstairs in my bedroom. He asked me to check to see if anything was missing. As I was going upstairs, I found it hard to believe my coins would be gone since nothing else appeared touched. To my surprise, they were gone.

It wasn’t a whole lot of money, but it certainly could have been much worse. I just want to thank my neighbors for calling the police to report some unfamiliar guys who were knocking on doors asking for some girl. It’s obvious now, they were looking for someone not at home.

I also want to thank the Kent Police Department for their quick action that thwarted this effort and hopefully, may deter others from trying to steal from our neighborhood.

I appreciate the willingness to watch out and act to protect our community.

– John Machowski