Sunsets, Rum, Sand and Gizzadas 97 Days in Negril

[nutz4travel]

WOW - I guess you just never know. Glad that you were unharmed and made it home safely... I hope that with time your love for Negril will return

[ackee]

aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....so sorry!!

[MoFromMonroe]

It makes me very very sad. Glad you are home safe.

[Marijane]

So sorry to hear of this .. I have enjoyed your trip reports as well as your books.. glad to hear you are safe. Bless

[Hussyband]

Don't let it ruin the island for you. I don't stay nearly as long as you were planning/did, but even after our incident in November, I am coming back to negril this year. There are bad seeds anywhere you go in the world. You cannot let them ruin something you love.

It does bother me though that is happening to so many boardies. The day before I was robbed, someone at our hotel had their room invaded while sleeping... And tensing is a secure gated resort... With three guard dogs (which were admittedly sleeping in my villa that evening).

I do feel your pain though. It's been three months since my incident, I still find myself enraged, and never wear any of my jewelry or watches at home anymore.

The most important thing is that you are safe.

[kaycee]

So sorry.

[Kimbobwee]

Holy Sh!t. Rollie!!!! Glad you weren't physically hurt, but the mental invasion can be just as bad. Sorry You had to deal w/ this and I'm sure your glad Bea wasn't there for this. Bless-up brother.......Kim

[Kahuna3]

Thank you for all of your kind words, both public and private. Much appreciated.

Because it needs to be aired, here is the full story of the robbery, which would more accurately be described as a home invasion.
I had a habit of closing and locking the security grill at around 8:000pm, and only opening it after that if I/we went out to look at the stars or to go down to a bar. On Thursday night I closed the grill and snapped the padlock shut. I remember the padlock was a bit reluctant to close, so I jostled it shut and then checked it by pulling on it. It was secure.

I always left the regular door open until I went to bed because I liked the fresh night air and the frog/insect sounds. So that’s what I did on Thursday night.
There is only one door and it’s a very solid steel door mounted in a steel frame. There is no window. The door is equipped with a key-operated deadbolt and a doorknob lock that is button activated.

Thursday night I settled down in the living room and read my Kindle for about 1 ½ hours. Then I got sleepy so I decided to move into the bedroom. I usually just closed the front door and pushed the doorknob locking button. I never used the deadbolt. In hindsight, this was a careless practice.
So that’s what I did Thursday night. Then I closed the sliding living room window and latched it, then pulled the curtains shut. The living room window has a grill on it, as do all the windows.

I turned off the lights and went into the bedroom and closed the bedroom door. I did this because I always had the A/C on low in the bedroom, because I also close the bedroom window and pull the curtains, so the A/C freshens the room up a bit.

I put my Kindle down at around 10:15 and promptly fell asleep.

I was awoken in the dead of night, quite suddenly, by a sound. It was a sound that needed investigating. So I got out of bed and went over to the bedroom door and listened. After a while I saw a dim light moving through the crack of the door. No way it could have been coming through the living room window, since I’d closed the curtains and the windows are heavily solar tinted. I figured someone was outside the kitchen window shining a light in, checking things out. The kitchen window has a tight four inch grill on it, as does the bathroom.

I went into the bathroom and looked in the direction of the front door. I saw the thief standing there, leaning up against the railing. He was a young, tall, skinny black dude wearing a ball cap and a kerchief over his nose and mouth.

My heart rate jumped immediately and I got a shot of adrenalin. But I wasn’t too worried, because I knew I’d locked the front door and the grill.
I went into the bedroom, pulled on my shorts (yes, I was buck naked to that point) picked up the cell and dialed 119. They answered promptly. In a subdued voice, I told them the situation and they said that they would send a car.

I went back into the bathroom, The guy was strolling across the patio deck, he walked by two feet from me. I assumed that he was going to try some of the other units, so I went to the front and peeked out the window. I saw him looking in the car and walking by the front of the house. Then I lost track of him.
I say ‘him’ but I wasn’t sure if he was alone. I also didn’t know if he had a machete or a gun.

I was waiting for the cops to show up. I went over to the bedroom door and stood there, not knowing what to do. Then, to my ultimate surprise, I saw a very strong flashlight beam shine through the door crack right at the bedroom doorknob.

That was when I realized that the guy, or guys, were in the living room. I couldn’t believe it. Then the doorknob moved. It has a lock but I hadn’t locked it. I slammed both my hands hard up against the door and yelled ‘THIEFF! THIEF!’ The flashlight light disappeared. I dashed into the bathroom and looked out the window to see the thief running away into the darkness. I yelled ‘THIEF’ several more times. Then I went to the bedroom window, opened it and yelled ‘Thief’ a few more times. And that is when the cops arrived. It had only been about eight minutes since the 119 call. They must have been patrolling close by.
I opened the bedroom door and saw that my laptop, which had been sitting on the breakfast bar, was no longer there. The steel door was open as was the grill. I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was having a hard time processing the fact that the grill was open. Because I’d padlocked it. With a big, hefty padlock.

I talked to the cops. The neighbour came out. The owner came out, a couple of guys who live in the fourplex out back came out.

After a short discussion we came to the conclusion that the guy must have had keys, since there were no signs of the locks having been forced. But, you will soon see, that was the wrong conclusion. The cops were very good and attentive; they left around 3:15am.

Eventually the neighbour went back to bed, as did the owner. There was no way I was going to go back to bed, I was shaken. The two guys who live in the fourplex (really good Jamaican fellows) must have sensed it and they stayed with me. We talked about the robbery and other things and drank cranberry wata. In fact they stayed with me until the sun came up. It was a beautiful dawn and sunrise. These two guys, Desmond and Steely are really fine fellows.

Eventually we came up with the only possibility of how the thief got into my apartment – and it was entirely my fault.

When I’d gone to bed I’d closed the door and pushed the door-lock button. I was sleepy at the time, I think I had actually dozed off prior, so I’m pretty sure now that I neglected to push the door-lock button, or maybe just fumbled it and it didn’t engage.

No big deal, right? The grill was padlocked.

Unfortunately, we had the practice of dumping the door keys on the counter right next to the door. So here’s what we figured happened.
- I’d padlocked the grill
- I closed the living room door, but fumbled the button-lock – thus the door wasn’t locked
- The door and padlock keys were on the counter right beside the door
- The thief came about and checked the grill – it was safely locked
- He tried the door knob – it turned and he opened the door
- He used his little flashlight to see if he could grab something from the counter, through the grill
- - ahaa! He found a set of keys
- He opened the padlock and pulled the bolt back – I think that is what woke me up.
- He came in and took the laptop
- . . . and I’ve already told the rest of the story

It was entirely my fault – if I’d used the security measures that had been provided by the owners – I would still be in Negril.
I hope this tale makes people more aware of security. If there is opportunity, it will eventually be exploited.

So – that’s it. I peed off about it. I feel like I’ve lost a good friend.

I go with my gut and my gut said 'go home'. So I booked a flight for that afternoon and split. It was a long day by the time I got home at 12:50am.

I am so glad that Bea wasn’t there.

[Vince]

Amazing!!-hard to swallow this and read-but I think I'm going to rethink on locking up at nite.-thanks your ok but mentally drained and tired!-bless

[kaycee]

Thanks for going into detail. I hope this incident doesn't deter you from going back to Jamaica. Give yourself some time and see how you feel.