Adventure in the 'Hood

Last night we had yet another brush with crime and punishment; of course, we wouldn't be able to have a normal week at The Arbors without a visit from the police.

At 11:00 p.m., Adam was lying down by Amber and Rex in our room and I was working in the office. We heard a knock on our door and assumed it was our beloved upstairs neighbor coming to chat with (lie to) us about the goings on with her multiple lovers and roomates. Adam jumped up, threw on some clothes, and retrieved the revolver from the top shelf of our closet. He carefully opened the door to find a young black male (I'll affectionately refer to him as Suspect #2; you'll know why in a moment) trying to push his way past our neighbor, Ken, into their apartment.

Adam said, "Did you knock on our door?" and #2, feverishly out of breath and looking horrified, told Adam he had just been jumped in the parking lot. Suspect #2 proceeded to pull out a $10 bill (convenient after being jumped, no?), hand it to Adam, and say, "I need to come in and call my girlfriend." Adam said, "There's no way I'm letting you in my house, but I'd be happy to call the police for you. Wait here." #2 said, "No, that's o.k." and walked away quickly.

An element which makes this event even more bizarre and creepy is the wailing of several police sirens heard in the area. Adam shut the door and told me about the conversation. We started wondering if QD, the gas station on our corner, or one of the adjacent liquor stores had been robbed again. Adam decided to go check it out and left me with the loaded gun and the kids.

Shortly thereafter, he called my phone and said, "Lock it up!" I could hear police talking to him on the other end and then he said he had to go but would be right home. At QD, Adam told police what had happened. The officer asked for our address (to which he replied, "Oh yeah...you have a problem neighbor in #5, huh?" See what we deal with?!) and asked Adam if he could identify Suspect #2 if he needed him to do so in a line up. Adam said yes, gave the officer his phone number and an offical statement, and returned home.

An hour later, the midnight need for a Monster emerged and Adam headed back to QD to see if the robbery had been cleared up. The clerk said they hadn't been robbed, but that there was a horrbile accident on I-96 (a block southwest of our apartment) and that someone had been hit while trying to cross the freeway. Adam drove over to the scene to find crime tape, ten cop cars, and numerous emergency vehicles. Upon his return, we anxiously waited for a news report to crop up. At around 5:00 a.m. (I finally gave up at 2:00, but he managed to stay awake), Adam told me the whole story. Check it out here: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080603/NEWS01/80603001

We believe our visitor last night was Suspect #2. Needless to say, we felt like we were living in an episode of "Cops." Who needs movies when you have real-life crime drama unfolding at your door?