I seldom talk about my private life.\u00a0 There is so much going on in the world that its hard to find time to write, period.\u00a0 Over the last month, I’ve been getting ready for the launch of The League of Citizen Heroes, being a guest at the Phoenix Comicon, preparing to patrol during Superbowl weekend, organize the programs housed under the League, etc, so on and so forth.\u00a0 During the last month, I’ve kept the following secret under my hat.\u00a0 None the less, I feel this is important so I’m going to “spill the beans.”
\nOn January 4th, my house … was robbed.
\nYep.\u00a0 Citizen Prime’s lair was ransacked!\u00a0 It was random, street crime.\u00a0 The burglars \u00a0had no idea who I was.\u00a0 I was just another cased joint.\u00a0 And it is the last one they’ll be robbing for a long time. \u00a0Allow me to explain.
\nSee, we were not home for the holidays.\u00a0 We were visiting family and friends (including The Black Monday Society) during the end of December and beginning of January.\u00a0 A wonderful elderly woman watches our house when we are away.\u00a0 On Friday, January, 4th, we received a phone call.
\n“Hello, Jim.\u00a0 I hope you’re sitting down.\u00a0 I’ve got some bad news,” said the concerned voice of our house sitter on the other end of the phone, \u00a0“Over the last few days, someone broke in and took quite a few of your things.” She continued listing the items she thought were stolen.
\nIf you’ve ever received news that your house has been robbed, it’s a surreal experience.\u00a0 The irony of Citizen Prime being robbed did not escape me either.\u00a0 Counting myself lucky for having my armor, laptop and cell phones with me, I listened while our house sitter recounted all the things she thought they took.\u00a0 It ended up being about $15,000 dollars worth of stuff including the desktop computer where all the Citizen Prime info and projects are listed.\u00a0 Among the “stuff” (and it is just stuff, mostly), what was most disheartening was the loss of photos (a 1000 honeymoon photos among them), Prime projects, and the like.\u00a0 Theft is an emotional violation, don’t let anyone tell you differently.
\nWhile reeling from the news she was delivering on my cell, I was conducting a business call on a land line, pacing furiously, and trying to keep myself in check.\u00a0 When I hung up both phones. I packed up wife, child and our remaining stuff and raced back to Arizona to survey the damage.
\nNow, I tell you all this to make the following point.
\nCrime does not pay.
\nWithout going into details, last week, the thieves were caught!\u00a0 Working with the local detectives, we are putting a case together to lock these low lifes away for a long time.\u00a0 And what I feel for the criminals can be boiled down to one word:
\nPity.
\nSeeing the single wide trailer they live in and the old beat up car they use to rob people, how do these geniuses think that crime pays?\u00a0 Now, its not a crime to be poor, nor is money the symbol of clean living.\u00a0 That being so, if you could see their living room, bedroom, kitchen, everywhere and all the junk that they live amongst in their quest to hit the big score, you’d agree \u2013 these guys did not get rich while they were on their crime spree.\u00a0 I say “spree” as the authorities estimate they have robbed about 20 houses in the last couple of years.\u00a0 So what did there life of crime get them?\u00a0 Not any richer \u2013 we saw that.\u00a0 Instead, it got them years behind bars.\u00a0 Years away from their kids.\u00a0 Its just plain stupid.
\nLooking through the list of evidence and photos from the search warrant, it saddens me even more to see the “stuff” \u00a0these petty thugs tried to take away from others.\u00a0 We saw an irreplaceable World War II photo stolen because the crooks liked the box it was in.\u00a0 Jewelry, like my wife’s, is often passed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter.\u00a0 And these guys chop up heirlooms and sell it for the metal.\u00a0 Theft takes memories and emotions along with the “stuff.”
\nIn this case, all these things, or as much as is able, will go back to the families, while these two short sighted, greedy thieves (and hopefully their accomplices, if the investigation pans out) go away for a long time.\u00a0 Time they will not get back.\u00a0 Time that will put their lives that much farther behind the eight ball.\u00a0 Time that will further ruin their eroded lives.\u00a0 Its sad.
\nCrime does not pay.
\nSo to all you budding criminal geniuses out there.\u00a0 You never know when you will rob the wrong house or the wrong guy.\u00a0 And when you do, rest assured, the next house you’ll see will be the Big House, or in Arizona, Sheriff Joe’s “Tent City”.\u00a0 A place you do not want to end up. \u00a0You can and will get caught.\u00a0 The police are sharper than you think, they have allies \u2013 seen and unseen \u2013 in the community, and there sole desire is to put criminals like these in prison.
\nAnd what do I want?\u00a0 As a victim of random crime, I want my pictures, projects and irreplaceable stuff back.\u00a0 In large part, I’m going to get that, while these poor souls do hard time.
\nAs Citizen Prime, I want it never to come to this.\u00a0 I want everyone to fly right! Look. The math is simple.\u00a0 Don’t do the crime and you won’t do the time.\u00a0 Its not worth it.\u00a0 Instead, join me in living a full life in the free world.\u00a0 Have the guts, strength and the courage to forge your own life \u2013 not steal it from others.
\nCrime does not pay.
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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