Though I don't feel like one.
I chased a burglar off my property on Monday night. It might have been a silly thing to do. He was 20 years younger than I am and could easily have been carrying a knife, or knuckle dusters. He could have been martial arts trained for all I knew. The police certainly don't advise this sort of thing.
But my puzzlement when I saw someone walk past my kitchen window turned to anger when I saw him enter my garage and something beyond that when he started to wheel my wife's bike out of its customary parking space.
The precise words I uttered are not suitable for a family website, but I uttered them in the deepest growliest voice I could manage, and ran directly towards him. He then let go of my wife's bike and ran directly away from me. As I was in bare feet I didn't pursue him beyond the bottom of my drive.
Am I a hero? I don't really feel like one, though I am very glad that things worked out as they did. But a few things still puzzle me.
Why to the police have sufficent personnel to take a statement from me three times but not enough to send a CSI round to take finger prints?
I know the guy didn't actually steal anything this time, but I would bet they have his prints on file. It was an opportunist thing - the garage door was open - but I bet it wasn't his first. And if that is the way things are left it won't be his last.