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To answer your question:

During the early morning hours on Monday 8/29, several cars parked at Pineville apartment complexes were broken into and their car stereos and speakers stolen. The police officer who originally responded said he believed the burglaries were intentionally done at a time when the police force's resources were directed toward the hurricane effort. However, when confronted with that remark by Newschannel 5, the Chief strongly denied this suggestion, stating that the police department had been more than adequately staffed in anticipation of the hurricane. After this, it was suggested that I need to prove the crime was genuinely committed by a refugee in order for the crime to be newsworthy. Neither KALB nor The Town Talk ever published any accounts of the burglaries. The local media seems to be taking the attitude that there was crime before the hurricane and there will be crime afterward, so who cares about somebody's car stereo?

Meanwhile, it cost me $300 to replace a shattered window, $10 for a copy of the police report, and that doesn't even take into account the fact that the burglars didn't bring the right tools for the job. They defaced the interior of my car so badly that the entire dashboard console has to be replaced along with the stolen stereo equipment. I've been told I'll need a rental car for two days while the auto body shop does the repairs. Pretty stupid considering that the thief will probably only fetch about $10 for the used CD player on the street, don't you think?

Someone in my neighborhood walked up to me yesterday and asked if I had replaced the stolen stereo yet. It gave me the creeps, because now I'm so paranoid that I don't know whether this was just polite conversation or whether I'm being watched so the replacement equipment can be stolen from me, too. I wondered whether it was a coincidence that suddenly I can't close the little door to my car's gas tank. I went to the nearest auto parts store and was told I'd just bought the last locking gas cap in town. Shortly thereafter, I received a call from a friend asking me to please be very aware of my surroundings when I go shopping. He'd overheard some disturbing conversations but because of the statements made on TV about putting people in jail for spreading rumors, he refused to be more specific.

I've lived in Pineville for two years and I always felt very safe and comfortable here. However, the mood in this town is changing this week whether the media and law enforcement want to suppress it or not. I imagine it's like that in Monroe, too.