"Yesterday afternoon [Wed June 24] I got home and took my routine half hour nap. It was 4:20 as I drifted off.  Because I hadn’t slept well the night before, I was dead to the world. About 20 minutes later (I always look at my watch when I wake), I heard the dog barking and woke up. 

The screen to the back window was up, and I looked around but found nothing out of place. Nothing that is, until about 20 minutes later a policeman rang the bell and asked if I knew where my wallet was. That was the only day I can remember in the last 5 years that I did not take my wallet upstairs, but left it on the table. Good thing I did -- apparently the thieves lifted the window screen, saw the wallet, and took it when the dog started barking, and I woke up.

The cops think I startled them and they split, having hit the jackpot. Had the wallet not been there, they would have gone farther into the house, most likely. To let you know what kind of bright lights these guys were, the cops caught them, a small, strong Black guy and a fat, hideously ugly White guy about three blocks from here, trying to buy liquor and get extra cash with my ID and cards. The Black guy was trying to use my ID to buy the liquor.  (Go figure….)  I guess when you need alcohol your mind knows no bounds. The pulled one of the boards on [my neighbor's] fence when they scaled it to come into our yard.

"I was lucky -- they caught them both, and they were charged. I lost $150.00 in cash, but got all my cards back and my license, and was able to cancel the cards before anything hit the boards.  I was also lucky in that I was asleep, and they didn’t do anything to me. I was fortunate to have a barking dog.

"Our house is armed to the teeth, with alarms, lighting, bump-proof locks, but I had opened the windows rather than run the A/C that day and left the alarm off. We’ve been here 5 years, and this is the first incident. I still do not feel unsafe, although it was very creepy knowing someone had been in the house and looked at me while I slept.

"My message to those of you who live in the city is to never let your guard down.  We live on a high traffic street, and the alley is patrolled constantly by MICA, and we have many safeguards, but for about 20 minutes I did not maintain vigilance.

"I have had multiple interactions with the Baltimore City Police department over the last 15 years, and every time the officers and crime scene investigators have impressed me with their promptness, efficiency, compassion, and professionalism.  Once more, I cannot commend these underpaid and overstressed fellow citizens more."