Scary Happenings: It was a dark and quiet night after the election

So we had quite the excitement this week.  At least one guy came into our house while we were home sleeping and attempted to steal things.  We are all safe and well.  All of our stuff was recovered and one guy was caught.  We think the front door wasn't locked after Mika went out for the last time.  Lock your doors.  Apparently many thieves just walk around checking for unlocked doors.  Here are the details from my point of view.  

We went to bed and watched the election results for awhile on Tuesday night.  I fell asleep early, but Brian didn't go to sleep until about 1/1:30am.
At a bit after 2:30am, I woke up to Mika barking and coming into our room.  She does this sometimes, so I didn't think much of it at first.  She'll do this when she sees a raccoon or a cat outside.  She is barking while sitting on the cot we have for her in our bedroom.  I wake up B and tell him to just go downstairs and look outside because that usually calms her down.  Then I realize that she isn't barking at the window, she is barking while intently staring at our bedroom door.  We get quiet and B tells Mika to "go to your house" which is her command to go down to her bed where her crate use to be.  She refuses, which is strange and never happens.  That is one command that she always follows in the house, even if you can tell she doesn't want to.  B gets up and goes to the open bedroom door and we listen.  We hear creaking downstairs.  Anyone who has been in our house much knows that we have creaky floors. I hear crickets, which is odd.  Our windows provide great sound proofing.  Brian closes the bedroom door while I call 911.  I'm hiding, crouched down, on the side of the bed away from the door and B and Mika are at the foot of the bed away from the door.  We hear creaking around.  

The 911 guy was super calm.  I know they are trained, but his confidence was very calming.  I tell him we think there is someone in our house.  He asks some questions: 2 of us live here, we have a dog, yes the dog is with us, we hear creaking, yes we still hear someone/thing moving around downstairs, no we don't have weapons.  He lets us know that the police officers are on the way and that we should stay on the line with him.  I'm shaking and feel completely terrified but stay calm enough to talk quietly.  I'm thinking about how I can't hide under the bed...I don't fit...and there is no where else for me to go without crossing the path of the door.  B tells me afterwards that he was trying to think of something to use as a weapon, but we didn't really have anything.  

It only takes a few minutes.  It felt like a long time, but it wasn't really.  We see lights near the walking paths behind the house (the officers looking for people) and hear a dog (the canine unit).  The 911 guy keeps us on the line and tells us that other units will be there shortly and to stay in our room until they announce their presence (and to keep hold of the dog).  A couple minutes later, a cop announces he is an officer and B goes down.  I keep a hold of Mika and stay in the room a bit longer.  After getting better dressed and going downstairs, we answer a bunch of questions about what happened.  We are asked not to touch anything if at all possible and to start looking for things that are missing.  They won't let me do anything because I'm pregnant and they have called the EMTs to check up on me.  The guy took a computer monitor, my purse, B's keys, our digital SLR camera, the camera bag, our PS3, and laptop.  The police found things ditched throughout his path of escape up to a few blocks away.  My purse was on a neighbors car with nothing missing from it.  B's keys were found under my car the next day when I left for work, other stuff was found in bushes and under cars.  All of it was found.

After awhile, the EMTs showed up and took my vitals (big surprise, my blood pressure was a bit high).  I haven't felt any movement from Mr. E at this point and I'm worried, but at this point I remember that I have a home doppler thing and grab it and find his heartbeat before the EMTs leave.  His heart rate was also a bit high, but within the normal range of 130-170 that I'm always told at the doctor's office.  Poor little dude probably got a ton of the adrenaline and other hormones/whatever that were running rampant through my system at that point.  EMTs couldn't do anything else for me.  So they left.  

A detective comes and asks us again about what happened, what was missing, did we know anyone by the name of the guy they caught and had out in their police car.  We write formal statements.  We get some of our stuff back.  A crime lab lady came and took fingerprints off all the stuff he stole and certain places around our house (door knob of the front door and lock of the sliding door (it was open and most likely the door he left through) and a clear fingerprint on a speaker that was otherwise covered in dust).  We answer some more questions and provide our contact information.  

At some point, probably around 430ish, an officer comes in and says that someone should probably take the suspect down to the station because he was in the back of the squad car crying about the cuffs being too tight and having carpal tunnel syndrome.  The thought makes me smile.  That sounds mean, but it's his own damn fault.  Also he was apparently intoxicated.  

The officers finally leave around 5am.  I call into work and take the day off.  Brian emails his professors to get excused absences so he doesn't lose points.  Mika receives a bunch of treats and peanut butter.  She did a good job.  Some people have mentioned that she should have attacked, but I don't think that is really her personality.  She came to us and alerted us, and she probably couldn't have done anything better.  We still don't know what she would have done if he would have come into our room or come after us.  I have a feeling she may have attacked then.   We would have slept right through it if it wasn't for her.  We sleep with our bedroom door open.  The thought gives me chills.  I've decided Mr. E may be sleeping in our room until he is old enough to wield his own baseball bat.  I'm only half joking.  I can't imagine what I would have done if he was already born and in a different room. The rest of this crazy story isn't scary for me to tell anymore...that thought is still heart-pounding terrifying to me.  

We slept until noonish and called our families and insurance and all that and just tried to relax all day.  I cleaned house to get out some energy.  We walked Mika to get some of her energy out, you could tell she was still on alert.  I've checked the locks a billion times since then.  We had already planned to get a new front door and floors put in soon.  I was thinking before about how I wanted to get rid of the creaky floors.  Now I'm not so sure.  We probably wouldn't have heard anyone moving around after Mika woke us up if it wasn't for the floors creaking.  

I was extremely impressed with the Howard County Police (we don't have city police, just county police).  They got here so fast.  The officer that stayed with us and asked us questions was very good at keeping us relaxed.  They caught the guy and found our stuff in the dark hidden in bushes and under cars.  You could tell they were pumped up by actually catching someone.  I'm not saying they were happy it happened, but breaking and entering isn't usually noticed while its happening so they rarely catch people.  I felt kinda bad for the detective and crime lab lady, you could tell they had to get out of bed for us.  The other officers were already on shift. I still feel very grateful for how fast they got here, how they kept us calm and relaxed, and that they got the guy and all of our stuff.  We received a letter in the mail today about victim assistance.  It provided phone numbers to call for different things, our detective's info and case number, and information about how the judicial process works.  I'm sure it's an automatic thing to send to people, but I feel like we were completely taken care of.  Seriously impressed with our police here.  

Because I'm an internet stalker: 

We saw the court case in the Maryland court system online system already.  His preliminary hearing will be later this month.  I told someone that he was about 28, but he is 23ish.  He is being charged with Burglary-First Degree, Burglary-Third Degree, Burglary-Fourth Degree-Dwell, and Theft: $1000 to under $10,000.  I know it is the weekend, and this may only be due to a backup in data entry, but his bail was set on Thursday and it still doesn't say he was released.  

This isn't this guy's first run in with the law.  He has had multiple instances of driving on a suspended license, a second degree assault charge, public intox/reckless endangerment, theft of under $100 (found guilty), a few other charges that I would consider minor, and one of the officers recognized him from some vandalism at a convenience store.  A few of these cases were closed out due to the prosecution choosing not to pursue, probation, or a suspension of the prosecution (they could reopen it for a repeat offense in a reasonable amount of time).  

That's all I can think of for now.  It was scary.  It a way, it feels like it didn't really happen even though I know it did.  We still haven't gotten all our stuff back, so we don't know what condition it is in.  I did get to keep my purse though.  

The moral of the story is: Lock your doors.