Scene of the Crime

I am back into my apartment, unpacked from my trip to the States, and trying to get things back in order around here. Everyone has been so sweet and I so appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

A lot of people have asked about what happened, what was taken, etc, so I am going to try to explain what I know as best as I can.

I flew back from the States on Saturday, October 11th, and arrived into Brussels on October 12th. I left my car at the office (which is close to the airport) so I got my car and went to Pam's to pick up Maxie. Dan and Pam were supposed to be at a luncheon so I was not expecting them to be at home. I have a key to their house, so I went in, got Maxie, and left heading to my apartment. On the way, Pam called me and told me I should take Maxie back to her house. She is always talking about how she wants to keep Maxie forever, so I thought she was joking and just laughed and said, "No Pam, you cannot have Maxie!". She was not laughing.

She said, "We are at your apartment and it has been broken into." She did not want Maxie there because there was a lot of glass. Needless to say, I was speechless.

I was almost to my apartment when she called. I walked in and saw the damage and started asking questions. The police had already been there to take a report and the CSI Brussels (I am not kidding, there really is a CSI Brussels) came in and took fingerprints and blood samples while I was there. Yes, I said blood samples. Apparently, the glass must have cut one of the robbers so there was blood.

None of this makes any sense. I will try to explain it as best as I can.

The robbers came in through my backyard. Let me remind you that my backyard is surrounded by a brink wall. Meaning, in order to get into my backyard, they had to jump a wall (or several walls) to get in and out.

This is my backyard...notice the wall and how tall it is.
They came in through the window on the right, not the double doors. This is the window and door to my bedroom. They broke the window instead of the door, I assume, to not make as much noise. Also, I assume they wanted to be downstairs so to be secluded. They used this brick to bust the window. Happy they left that little gift for me.
This is how it was left...the window on the right broken and the door left open.
Maxie checking out the damage.
I thought this was funny. One of the garden gloves you see below (green glove) was stolen, I assume because they were bleeding and needed something to put on.
Some of the blood that was left on the curtains. And blood on the door knob...
All of the major damage was done to my bedroom and window and stuff thrown out of drawers in the guest bedroom. The upstairs was not really damaged but was definitely gone through. Since they had to jump over walls to get out they could not take TVs or anything big or heavy. They tried to take my new bike, but I suppose it was not easy to get over the wall. The items stolen were small in nature; however, very expensive. Items such as my professional camera and lenses, jewelry, bags/purses, laptop computer, and foreign currency. Since the items taken were small, it is hard to remember what I had and what is now missing. I am still working on the list.

So, the fun continues as I complete my list of stolen items and deal with the insurance company. It could have been a lot worse than it was, I realize that, but it still just plain sucks that it happened.

I came back to my apartment on Wednesday night and have been fairly comfortable....just leaving basically every light in the apartment on. Plus, I have my guard dogs...Maxie and Zsa Zsa! They will protect me!

By the way, yes, I took pictures for the insurance company...but also for the blog! Don't think I would miss an opportunity for a good posting!