Cops

As mentioned, our neighborhood is turning into an exciting episode of Cops.

Back to July 3rd. We were visiting with Mr. D's brother Toby when we received a call from Beth asking when we would return. She told Mr. D that there were 21 cars in the street. It was 7:30. Mr. D thought she was joking. She wasn't.

About 9:30 when we left to go see the fireworks at Lake Normandale there were only a handful of cars left at the party. They must have gone to the fireworks, too. (Now that is the topic of yet another blog post. It seems they do fireworks in Bloomington on July 3rd because it is more efficient. Probably cheaper, too, since they don't have to pay people holiday wages to work that evening. I hear they may move Christmas to December 27th so people can take advantage of the half price Christmas goods on the 26th. Now back to Cops.)

When we arrived home about 11:00 there were 27 cars parked on our street. We went to bed about midnight. Just as I was arriving in the Land of Nod, there was a knock on our bedroom door. It was Beth informing us that there was a fight going on outside. Thinking that it was just another loud party, we told her to try to ignore it and get to sleep. About a minute later, there was another knock. It was Tim saying he thought there was a fight going on outside. We figured something other than the normal, loud late night partying must be happening since the kids are used to that.

Sure enough, a look outside revealed about 30 people in the front yard embroiled in a drunken brawl. Mr. D said, "Get the phone." I went to call 911 and he went to the window. All of a sudden a bunch of people said, "Let's get out of here." They scattered, running all directions, and getting into cars and driving all directions.

When the police arrived, there were still enough fighting to give the police something to do. All Mr. D could really observe were photos being taken by the police, outside and a flash going off inside.

On Saturday, we were at Starbuck's and ran into some neighbors with a relative who is a policeman. This unnamed relative said that one evening (we're not sure which one) there were 10 underage drinking violations issued, a disturbing the peace ticket, and, if I remember correctly, a narcotics arrest. This relative found one of the underage drinking violations ripped up in the street, pieced it together, and found the girl's blood alcohol level was .20...perhaps this explains unconscious girl. If you are the girl who ripped up that ticket, please be informed that there will soon be a warrant out for your arrest.

Since we all love the Constitution and know that police can't just enter someone's house without cause or a search warrant, the police have a new strategy. They are lining up (like the cabs at the airport) in a nearby cul-de-sac and as the party "guests" drive off they are following them looking for drunk driving behavior.

There has been no cause to call the police since that day, but did I mention that the kid who lives there has two pit bulls that wander into our yard? They are the neighbors from H-E-double hockey sticks!

I've decided that the loving your neighbor as yourself thing means getting them some help and right now I think the safest place for them is detox or jail.