20210720 Noise
It was the middle of night, around half past two and we were fast asleep. And then we woke up because of someone shouting like mad. We're used to noise during the night, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings. When bars close we hear drunk people going home, shouting, making dumb remarks, falling, fighting and sometimes breaking stuff. We park our bicycles outside in the alley, because that's a convenient place, but on those weekend nights we have come to regret that. Our bikes have been stolen more than once. They have been molested, thrown around, the wheels have been trampled upon and we have had to replace parts regularly. That's always a bummer, but we have old second hand bikes that did not cost too much and repairing them is never a huge issue. We are alert though on those nights and when we hear noise on those nights and wake up we have more than once walked to the window and asked people to tone down and let us sleep. That usually helps. But last night it was different. I woke up and heard the sound of breaking glass and someone screaming on the top of his lungs. I rushed to the window and saw a guy in an orange t-shirt and long hair picking up the bike of my daughter and then he threw the whole bike through the neighbours window. I shouted what the fuck, stop this, and more, but he did not seem to hear me and after he had thrown the bike he ran off. We rushed downstairs and outside and just saw him run around the corner. Neighbours started coming outside and the I saw that what had caused the first noise. The window of our neighbour's house on the other side of the alley had been smashed too. Another bicycle was hanging through the window, one wheel inside, the other hanging outside. More neighbours came out, police arrived and the boy next door, he's 22 came running to us that he and some other neighbours had caught the guy. He had smashed other windows and then he had gone on the smash a dozen or so parked cars. The police told us the guy had had a psychosis and they had had contact with a mental health organisation. We talked to the police for more than an hour and the next day they came back to make a complete overview of all the damage. My guess is that he caused for more than 100k of damage. We only have a bike with a flat tire. I guess it is the price you pay when living in a city. Crazy stuff happens.