An interesting Thanksgiving

I'll always remember the Thanksgiving I spent in jail. It was 1982 I think.

I was working at the Sunbeam service center in Downers Grove. And I stayed late on Thanksgiving Eve to do the reports and make sure the shelves were stocked for black Friday. We sold toasters and irons, etc. in addition to the repairs and we always had a good sales day on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

So I was in the office at about 9:00 pm and I heard a banging noise in the back of the shop. I figured one of the employees had seen my car and stopped in to pick something up. So I headed to the back door.

I peeked out the window and saw some guy with a crow bar trying to jimmie open the warehouse door. He couldn't see me but I saw him.

I ran to the phone and called the police. They kept me on the line and told me to stay in the office. They came right away and after a couple of minutes instructed me to go to the front door and let them in.

It was pretty obvious they were going to catch this guy. They found a car in the parking lot that was still warm and had no snow on it. They found the crow bar behind the building and footprints that headed up the street.

I gave them the description of what he was wearing and they told me to go home.

I called my boss to report the attempted break in and get his instructions. (Some companies don't like to press charges, but Sunbeam did.)

I lived quite a distance from work at the time and I got home at about 11:00. As soon as I walked in the door Susan said, "The Downers Grove Police called. They want you to call them."
(It must have been quite a shock for her to get a call late at night from the police!)

Well, they had a guy in custody and wanted me to go identify him. So I got back in the car and drove all the way back up there. It was midnight by the time I arrived and I went through mugshots and looked at clothing and gave them a statement.

By the time I got back home it was 3:00 am Thanksgiving Day.

So I'm always grateful to have a quiet Thanksgiving. Enjoy the day.

XOXO
Dad