A Real Live COPS Show

Ok, so remember how I told you I would tell you the kidnapper story over the weekend? I'm sorry, I lied. I ended up getting caught up in changing out the summer clothes to winter clothes for T-Monkey. This staying busy thing is kicking my butt! But, my hard work has paid off- I made straight A's for the first six weeks of school- I'm totally excited.
So since I have a moment and am actually caught up on studies, I will bring you up to date:
I get a call from my neighbor almost two Fridays ago during class. No one ever calls me during school so naturally I thought it was something to do with the kids. Anyway, she proceeds to tell me that there is a kidnapper loose trying to hide out in our neighborhood and not to go home but to come straight to her house so that the police could go in the house with me. Of course, this takes me a moment to process this info and I agreed with her and immediately called the school. See, Soccer is home alone for about 30 minutes after I leave and he is supposed to lock the door and get on the bus on time and so far this year he's done a fantastic job. I've always had reservations about this responsibility but a lot of family had said this would be good for Soccer. Reluctantly and with a lot of prayer, I decided to let him do this. My neighbors also peak out the window to make sure he makes it out of the house on time! My first thought is that I need to verify that he has indeed made it to school. They were able to find Football right away but were confused on what name I had given for Soccer and that he was in the middle school wing and not high school. They couldn't find him for about 10 minutes. They finally found him at lunch when they figured out his correct name. I have never had a panic attack before in my life- I had one that day. I sobbed for an hour at least. You know I would never forgive myself if anything ever happened to him because I didn't listen to my 'mother's instinct.' Needless to say, he goes to the neighbor's house in the mornings when I leave now. I think we all feel better about this new arrangement!
Ok, so I get to my neighbor's house after school and then she fills me in on the facts:
The man had kidnapped a woman and held her at gunpoint and forced her to drive him - Their car breaks down at the exit off the interstate where my neighborhood is. Somehow, she escapes from him and is able to make it to this tiny little museum at the corner and finds three gentlemen that help her and call the police. The manhunt is now on and he's been spotted in several different locations in the neighborhood and is believed to have robbed another woman in the area who had left her door unlocked- he assaulted her and took her money and jewelry. Scary, right?
By the time I get home, cops are at every block on my street- HE WAS SEEN ON MY STREET. I'm not sure how to handle all of this but my neighbor and I went to the nearest detective, told him I just got home from school and would he have someone go in the house with me. He sent two other detectives down to go in- without me. I had to wait in the car, across the street and watch these officers with weapons drawn screaming and yelling to clear my house. Again, I'm totally crying and just scratching my head that this is happening in my neighborhood.
The house is clear and they tell me to lock up and keep the lights on. Duh. I want Ft. Knox security at this point. Then one of my other neighbors comes yelling down the street that she'd been trying to call me all day (she was calling the house phone) and that she had noticed that Soccer had -LEFT THE FRONT DOOR OPEN this morning and wanted to let me know that she had stopped SWAT and asked them to clear the house for me while I was gone. So, the SWAT team and their dogs cleared my house too. Isn't this story just bizarre?
Oh and I forgot to mention that the local news channel had gotten word of my house being checked twice and came down and interviewed me. Of all the days for the house to look like a tornado had gone through. What are the chances? It was soooooo messy. Oh well, at least the freak didn't hole himself up in my unlocked open-doored house, right?
Oh- and I now have ADT installed and that's a whole other story for another time. It ends with me getting two months for free and waiting for the electrician today. Ugh.