On Tuesday, April 16, 2013 12:12:02 PM UTC-4, Wayne Baumgartner wrote:
> Yesterday evening I was birding at Kenilworth Park
> in DC and had my car broken into and several windows
> shattered.
>
>
>
> I arrived at the park about
> 6:45pm and passed six older teenagers
> walking into the park.� I thought nothing of it and
> dorve into the park and parked my car
> along the road halfway between the two parking lots.�
> I walked down to the main Kenilworth
> Marsh, looking for Blue-winged Teal
> and perhaps Sora (one can always
> hope). After walking along the
> field edges and
> observing at the marsh for
> about 30 minutes, I started walking back
> toward my car.� When my head
> crested the small
> hill leading from the marsh, I saw from
> about 500 yards away that the doors of my
> car were hanging open, and the teenagers
> were nearby rifling through the contents
> of my work bag taken from the locked car.
>
>
>
> I called 911, and the DC police
> arrived about 2 minutes later.�
> The teens had
> sauntered off to the back
> (south) part of
> the park beyond the jersey barriers, and the
> two DC
> police officers chased
> them for some time, but did not catch
> them.� A Park Police
> officer arrived a minute
> later
> (Kennilworth Park is
> not currently in
> the jurisdiction of
> the DC Police, but
> rather the US Park
> Police; the
> irony
> of this is that DC
> police are often
> seen in the
> park, but rarely
> Park Police).
>
>
>
> My
> car was severely
> damaged.� A
> large stone was
> used to attempt
> to break all six
> car windows, succeeding
> in shattering
> two and
> ruining all of
> them, as well
> as leaving
> dents all
> around from
> stone
> richochets.�
> There was nothing
> much of value
> in the car
> except the
> bag, from
> which they
> stole a
> digital camera and
> a valuable
> antique pen.�
> (I guess the
> Sibley Guide to
> Birds of Eastern
> North America
> doesn't rate
> highly on the
> stolen goods market).�
>
>
>
>
> By the look
> of the damage
> to all
> windows, I
> would say this
> was an act of
> vandalism in
> addition to an
> attempt to
> steal from a
> car.�
> It was also
> particularly
> brazen, given that
> they were two cars
> in
> sight
> with people around
> them parked in the
> first and second
> parking lots.� The
> incident
> happened about
> 7:10pm
> in full
> daylight, in
> sight of other
> people in the
> park.� I also
> managed to get
> a couple of
> faraway photographs
> of the
> perpetrators,
> which I attach
> below.
>
>
>
> I
> have been to Kenilworth
> park hundreds
> of times in
> the past three
> years, and
> have never run
> into anything
> like this
> before.� There
> are often cars
> that are
> parked there
> with people in
> them that look
> sketchy, and
> it is easy to
> avoid the park
> at these times
> and come back
> another time, or
> to bird in a
> different part
> of the park.�
> I will now
> have to
> re-evaluate my
> approach--I
> don't
> like to be
> inherently
> suspicious of
> any group of
> teenagers I
> see walking
> through a
> park, but
> perhaps I
> should be more
> so from now
> on.� In
> retrospect,
> they were an
> unusual
> looking and
> acting group
> that should
> have set off more
> precaution on
> my part, but I
> was too busy anticipating
> Teal
> and Sora
> and Yellowlegs
> to give them
> proper
> attention.
>
>
>
> � Be
> careful out
> there,
>
>
>
> ���
> -Wayne
> Baumgartner
>
> �����
> Washington, DC
>
>
>
> PS-
> here is a link
> to the
> pictures I
> took of
> the incident
> under
> sub-optimal
> conditions:
>
>
>
> https://picasaweb.google.com/whbaumga/KenilworthParkVandalism?authkey=Gv1sRgCN27ya3B-sSPywE#
Wayne,
As a birder and a pen collector, I am doubly sorry for your loss. Some years ago, my van was parked at the boat ramp lot at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds (Montgomery County) while I was doing the Big Sit all day. After nearly 10 hours in the field, I came back to my van to find that someone had actually broken off the side door handle (the kind the pulls down to open the side-sliding door), sheared it right off, trying to break into my van for the GPS unit (which I had foolishly left on the window). While nothing was taken, it was still a huge pain to have to go through my insurance company, file a police report, schedule having it fixed, etc. so I can appreciate what you must be going through. I make sure now that I throw a towel or something over my bag when I am out birding and want to leave my stuff in the van, and take down the GPS unit, though I understand that thieves will break in for one based on only the suction cup mark on your windshield. Had our Jeep broken into here last summer, right in my own driveway (and we live "in the country") as did many neighbors.
Stay vigilant! Sorry for your loss...
Rick SUssman
Woodbine,MD
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