Invasion of the Purse Snatchers

My next blog was going to cover my vacation road trip through Ohio but sometimes life gets in the way and you have something more immediate to say. So here's the story:

It was after pole dancing class and Jen, Monica and I decided to go get a drink at the Village Inn in Sylvania (nice area.) We sat outside because it was a warm night. Soon Monica got tired and left as it was starting to get dark, Jen and I stayed for a few more drinks.

We were talking, laughing, drinking... when all of a sudden I see this hand reach over my shoulder and grab my purse... which was sitting right in front of me on the table. At first I thought it was a joke, maybe somebody I knew messing with me. But as I heard the feet pounding farther away I realized I'd just been robbed!

It's been awhile since I moved so fast, trying to run down two teenage boys (and I say boys because they were very very young.) But I was wearing crappy shoes, and I'm not exactly a long distance runner. Knowing I was falling behind, I did the only thing I could think of... I shouted obscenities and tried to get a good description of the punks.

Walking back to the bar I saw several other distraught women jogging toward me (man I must have been moving fast,) seems the assholes had gotten more than just my purse. When I got back Jen was on the phone with the cops, she had reached for her phone the second I took off. Within minutes Sylvania cop cars were all over the place looking for the thieves.

I called JR(with Jen's phone) and left a message since I had no keys, no wallet, no cellphone. I think I was most upset about my phone. The other stuff can be replaced (although I knew it'd be a pain in the ass) but the only phone numbers I know by heart are JR's, my parents, and work.

Anyway, thank god the bartender had gotten an upclose look at the kids, she had kicked them out a few times already that night. So she went with the police who actually had a pretty good idea who the robbers were (guess there was a big party with kids going on down the street) to ID the suspects. At this point Jen just kept handing me drinks, which I was slamming back.

JR showed up about the same time the cops came back... now with a brown evidence bag in hand. They asked for Elaine.. which threw me for a second until I realized they probably meant me since that's my middle name. With rubber gloves on the (sweet) cop gingerly pulled my purse out of the bag... wallet, cellphone, and keys... all there, but out of place. Apparently the kid dropped it in the nearby church parking lot because we were chasing him.

The officer had me go through my stuff to see what was missing. Three bucks, some change... and my sense of security was all I lost last night. He asked me if I wanted to press charges, my answer... "Hell Yes."

I was so relieved to get everything important back, but I felt bad for the other girl who was robbed. They found her wallet, but not her purse. Still, they captured one of the purse snatchers (the one who grabbed mine) and you know he'll squeal on his friend.

I've got to hand it to the Sylvania PD, I'm not a fan of cops, but they were all over this incident and did a really good job catching the bad guys. I thought I was safe in Sylvania, lesson learned. But on the same note if this had happened in Toledo I doubt the police would have been so quick to respond.