By Robert Capell
Last Sunday Sandra and I went off ? as usual ? for our daily morning coffee. This is almost a ritual for us and, evidently, has been noticed by others.
When we returned, close to noontime, we noticed the gate to our next door fenced and posted property ? open. Further inspection revealed that our gas-operated chipper was gone. It had been sitting at the end of a 100-foot concrete pad covered with a blue tarp for about a year, under a “posted” sign. Outside the gate were the tire prints of the chipper. Obviously, it had been stolen!
We hadn”t used the chipper for a couple of years because it didn”t chip very well and was heavy and hard to pull around because of a broken, wobbly wheel. In fact, we”d been trying to give it to charity or anyone willing to take it. The thieves had worked quite hard to pull it to the gate and then transfer it, evidently, to a truck.
We wondered if they had worked as a team and had a cohort follow us to our coffee location to stay in touch by cell phone; or, maybe they were certain we”d be gone long enough to coffee. Whatever, these bozos have placed themselves at risk of felony trespass and theft to obtain a near useless piece of junk.
We called Clearlake”s finest and after a couple of hours an officer came by. He talked for quite a while and then headed off again. We have filled out a police form with all the pertinent information, such as serial numbers, etc., in case it ever shows up.
I chained and locked the gate and placed a large sign, propped on a saw horse, several feet back which said in large letters, “We would have given it to you ? gladly.”
Robert Capell
Clearlake
