On Getting Robbed

May 28, 2008 · 46 comments

Those of you following my Twitter account will know that my house was robbed early in the morning on Memorial day. Nothing of mine was actually taken but the three guys that broke in assaulted my roommate and stole his MacBook among other things. Read his blog post for the full story. Several of Atlanta’s finest showed up quickly, and our neighbor who is a police officer, along with a CSI truck that took fingerprints and a DNA sample from when Chris got in a few punches and caused one of the intruders to bleed.

Atlanta Police

We are all fine now, although Chris seems to be understandably jumpy at times, and are parting ways to move into safer residences. Things will be quiet here for a few days, especially if I can’t get Comcast to hookup an Internet connection at my new apartment for a while.

Moving Out

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we have had run ins with crime in the area. My last roommate was mugged, another of my previous roommates had his car broken into right in front of our house, a friend had an attempted car break-in while she was watching a movie at our house, and our neighbor has had his Honda Accord stolen twice in the same week (right after it was recovered).

{ 3 trackbacks }

Gomeler.com » Blog Archive » A Week’s Worth of Progress Post-Robbery
June 3, 2008 at 7:38 pm
What About Insurance for Students After Graduation?
September 19, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Paul’s 2009 Tech New Years Resolution - PaulStamatiou.com
December 28, 2008 at 3:17 am

{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Banyú May 28, 2008 at 12:15 pm

I’m sorry man, that’s a pretty unpleasant experience.

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2 Bruce Keener May 28, 2008 at 12:17 pm

A real shame, Paul. Glad you made it through this mess without serious injury, or worse.

I can remember when you could walk around in midtown at 2:00 in the morning and not have to worry. Of course, that was over 30 years ago. Obviously it’s not the same anymore. I can see why you’re anxious to be westward bound, although SF has its share of problems, too.

Anyway, glad you and your buddies are OK.

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3 Tim Linden May 28, 2008 at 12:21 pm

Well that stinks. Good luck on the moving to safer residence!

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4 JR May 28, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Crazy… I was just checking out one of your reviews for a buddy of mine to read then I noticed that you guys got robbed?! Wow. Where will you be relocating to? Staying downtown? Good luck man.

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5 djweezy May 28, 2008 at 12:50 pm

Sorry to hear this. Good luck finding a new safer place.

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6 HitMan May 28, 2008 at 1:32 pm

Tough situation… not only someone entering in your home but also the “fight” to defence your [ in this situation, your roomie] stuff!!

I hope your roommate gets past of this quickly and good luck to both of you finding a safer residence!

[ The only good thing is that you're not @ Greece... police in this situations are just "lame". ]

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7 Chris Clarke May 28, 2008 at 1:43 pm

That’s terrible news, Paul. It’s unfortunate that your roommate had to go through such a terrible experience. I hope the police come through and find the person who did this. Stay safe!

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8 Abhijeet Mukherjee May 28, 2008 at 2:13 pm

Thats very unfortunate. Nobody can claim being completely safe anywhere in this world….whether you are in a developed or a developing country. Glad to know that you and your buddy are ok. Hope the culprits are caught soon.

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9 Ian Sinke May 28, 2008 at 2:21 pm

Man, that must be terrible. I feel sorry for you. At least you (and your friend) are ok.

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10 Mark Jaquith May 28, 2008 at 3:02 pm

Yikes. I’m really sorry Paul. Considered getting a concealed weapon license? Sounds like a nasty neighborhood.

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11 Kendrick May 28, 2008 at 3:58 pm

where in Atlanta do you live? I was moments away from signing a lease in Hyde park, but got a job offer in the New England that I took. I might still go to Atlanta at some point, so i’d be interested to know the area?

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12 Kevin May 28, 2008 at 5:02 pm

Wow, that totally stinks. I live a few blocks from Lenox Mall and we’ve had a rash of car break-ins (smash and grabs), one home robbery, and a few attempted robberies. We got an alarm system a few months ago and it has helped with a little peace of mind.

Hope you get a new place soon.

What area were you living in before? I used to have a condo not too far from Tech off Collier Rd; loved the location.

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13 Jonathan Solichin May 28, 2008 at 7:37 pm

Harsh mate. But crap happens. Good luck finding a new place.

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14 Paul May 28, 2008 at 8:48 pm

Glad everyone is safe. Those who broke in will get what they deserve eventually. At least your new place is in a better area.

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15 Matt Craven May 28, 2008 at 9:06 pm

Paul – I had seen your roommates post and didn’t make the connection that this was your place. I am glad that all of you are safe!

~Matt

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16 Justin Cady May 28, 2008 at 9:06 pm

Sorry to hear this. I wish you the best moving into your new place and hopefully avoiding these situations in the future.

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17 Rob Schultz May 28, 2008 at 10:52 pm

Sounds like that place has some kind of bad karma…

I’m glad to hear that all involved were OK and that you’re on to a safer place.

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18 david May 28, 2008 at 11:09 pm

I am sorry this happened to you and your roommate. I hope that you can find a safer and newer start this time around. :)

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19 Travis Reynolds May 29, 2008 at 12:02 am

Oh Geez! Well at least everybody is fine now.

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20 Zach May 29, 2008 at 1:55 am

A friend of mine just moved from the ATL W area, right before he moved, same thing. Guy comes in to the bedroom, wakes his one night stand while rummaging through the dresser, steals computer, car, wallet. One night stand says a few hours later “Your roommate was in here going through your drawers.” He reaches for the cell phone to call the police, no phone. Has to go next door to call the police.

Thing is, his back door was unlocked. Moral. Lock your doors, otherwise the only protection is rental insurance.

Sorry that happened man.

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21 Eli James May 29, 2008 at 6:20 am

Oh that’s just horrible, Paul. Thank God all of you are fine, though, despite the assault.

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22 Blake Brannon May 29, 2008 at 7:39 am

Thanks for the heads up Paul. I’ll make sure I’m never your roommate. J/k Sorry to hear about this. Are you moving to Atlantic Station?

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23 Speedmaster May 29, 2008 at 8:13 am

Very sorry to read that, frustrating! ;-(

Any description of the miscreants?

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24 Jeremy Zawodny May 29, 2008 at 3:43 pm

Yikes! Sorry to hear the news. :-(

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25 Alex Palma May 29, 2008 at 6:28 pm

Hey Paul, I wanted to tell you that I am very sorry for what has happened to you and your roommates, too bad we weren’t around to get a few punches and kicks in as well. I wish you the best of luck and hope your friend recovers as quick as possible.

Take care my friend.

Alex P

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26 hydo May 29, 2008 at 9:48 pm

Wow, Atlanta sounds like a great place to live! That is some scary stuff…. be safe…..

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27 Brian May 29, 2008 at 10:37 pm

Unbelievable.

Good luck man. Hope everything turns out okay following the move.

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28 jean May 30, 2008 at 3:03 am

I’m also a Georgia Tech student. Could you let me know where you live? From the previous postings and pictures, it looks like you lived in 16th street. I’m very scared to hear this kind of bad thing. Hope everything would be okay.

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29 Sumesh from TechZilo May 30, 2008 at 8:14 am

Robbery…aww….Lucky that you got through without many problems.

> “…when Chris got in a few punches and caused one of the intruders to bleed….”
Kudos to Chris for throwing a few punches (though it could’ve endangered his life).

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30 Nicole May 30, 2008 at 11:32 am

Ack — glad everyone is okay. It does indeed sound like it’s time to relocate.

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31 Syahid A. May 30, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Shit happens, they say. But I am glad that you are okay.

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32 Akshay May 30, 2008 at 1:38 pm

That sucks man. I guess I feel lucky that the crime rate here in Portland is not that bad. I am glad that no one got hurt and not much damage was done in terms of stuff being stolen.

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33 Dr Fence May 30, 2008 at 3:41 pm

Sorry it sucks .. I know the feeling and was robbed even though I had an 85 lb German Shepherd in the house. It gives you this unsettled feeling in your own house that takes time to go away.

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34 Blake Perdue May 31, 2008 at 12:03 pm

That sucks, man. Sorry to hear it. Where are you moving to? I live in midtown right by tech square and even in this nice area, there are still muggings, break-ins and theft. I forgot how sketchy Atlanta is.

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35 Sharvil May 31, 2008 at 6:51 pm

Sorry to hear about it!
That Glock is probably not a bad idea after all.

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36 Jack June 1, 2008 at 12:15 am

Does your roommate happen to have Undercover installed on his MacBook?

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37 Dave June 1, 2008 at 3:53 am

Whoah! Sorry to hear about this. All the best to both of you getting back on your feet again.

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38 blauereiter June 1, 2008 at 4:30 am

Sorry to hear about this, but thankfully no one was hurt.

If the CSI folks did manage to collect some usable DNA samples there’s a very high chance these people will be caught soon I think.

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39 Jason June 2, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Wow, that sucks. With all of the crime you mention at the end of your post, sounds like a place I wouldn’t even think about living without having some serious security in place.

I hope the police catch the scum who did this!

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40 Rial S June 2, 2008 at 6:38 pm

I just had my Sony amp, subwoofers, a pair of 6×9’s stolen out of my pathfinder while it was parked in the garage across from the street while I was parked last week. They also grabbed my iPod (5g). The Atlanta cops did a lot more than the on-the-scene officer here in Chattanooga, probably still just as likely to catch them though.

It sucks too. Homeowner’s insurance (or renter’s insurance in your case) will cover your event. Thankfully, everything that was screwed down will be covered by my auto insurance (which means most likely everything except the iPod will be reimbursed).

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41 Wei June 3, 2008 at 10:43 pm

Getting robbed sucks, not so much the possessions but the emotional scar. My jeep was actually broken into during Startup Weekend last year. I was pretty pissed. Hope your roommate feels safer at his new place.

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42 Billigflüge September 26, 2008 at 8:30 am

Were it the three guys on the picture? You were lucky, because they were gun-toting!

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43 Nick van man January 21, 2009 at 5:51 am

Sorry to hear this hope things work out ok, everyone should be able to have peace of mind where they live in the sanctity of there own homes good luck in the future

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