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Police: Would-be South Boston burglar pushed AC unit in, homeowner pushed it back out and the battle was on
By adamg on Wed, 12/30/2015 - 12:16pm
The burglar lost: He fled, but not fast enough to evade police.
Boston Police report that what turned into a "see-saw battle for window access" began shortly before 1 a.m. today at 107 B St., when a resident watching TV heard a noise at her bedroom window:
When she walked over to the window to see what was creating or causing the noise, she quickly realized that someone was trying to push in her air conditioner. To confirm her observations, the victim says she placed her hand on the air conditioner and quickly felt it move towards her. At this point, the victim says she pushed the air conditioner back towards the window and, before she knew it, she and the suspect were engaged in a see-saw battle for window access pushing the air conditioner back and forth. After failing to gain entry, the suspect, who was yelling and screaming during the back-and-forth battle, took off on foot. Officers promptly broadcast a description of the suspect over the police radio. In short time, officers were able to locate and stop an individual who matched the description of the suspect. While officers questioned the suspect about his possible involvement in the incident, the victim was brought to the scene in an effort to positively identify the suspect. Upon seeing the individual, the victim stated, “That's definitely him."
Gui Laroche, 27, of somewhere in Colorado, was charged with unarmed breaking and entering in the nighttime and trespassing.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Cool
She was cool under pressure.
"Cool"
Of course she was "cool" - her AC unit was still in the window while it was snowing!
Scary stuff. This could have
Scary stuff. This could have ended so much worse. What if the AC unit fell on the guy and crushed him?!
What if?!
That would have been my first response: open the window and see how he deals with 120 lbs of falling AC unit. Much easier for the cops to track him down with a broken leg.
What
The hell kind of AC unit do you have in your window?
This kind?
I have
Central air. Eat this air handler, mothereffer!
This is a problem?
How? Gravity always wins, you know.
Even if somebody were not at home, that AC unit could fall on that dope as a result of his own actions! This is what parents refer to as "natural consequences", only writ large.
Needed reminder to take out the A/C
"Your honor, I wasn't trying to break in, I'm just concerned about global warming and wasted fossil-fuel produced heat."
Solution
Make the victim pay for her own heat, she'll take the AC out during winter.
Ummm
Maybe everyone should realize this was in fact a very scary situation and the victim could have ended up dead had that nutcase made it into her apartment instead of being a bunch of pricks.
or maybe since nothing happened
people could make light hearted jokes if they want. i would say if the tenor of this blog upsets you, not only are you on the wrong site, you're in the wrong metro region.
I agree -- why the nasty
I agree -- why the nasty remarks aimed at this woman? Per usual, certain uhub commenters find a way to blame the victim. Sick and twisted people and the very reason I frequent this site less and less. What a miserable and petty life many of you must lead. Happy New Year!
Because its stupid and lazy to leave in the A/C unit
Its long overdue to take out the air conditioner. It sounds like she didn't even screw it to the window frame to secure it, so the minimal effort to take the unit in just makes her look all that more lazy. Worse, she doesn't give a shit how wasteful of heat/energy she is.
Blame the victim? Sure, like people who leave a laptop on the passenger seat of their unlocked, parked cars. or ones who smoke 2 packs a day and get lung cancer or emphysema. The A/C unit must have stuck out like a billboard when most everyone else has taken their's in.
You haven't been eating your roughage, pops!
Ever occur to you that she might be unable to do it herself or that the unit belonged to her landlord and is winterized instead of removed?
Of course not.
Charges of laziness are odd coming from somebody who complains that he can't just drive into every business he might want to visit in any given area of the city and might actually have to walk.
Her landlord
Is the government.
Ac in the winter can be useful
For asthma, controlling humidity, and if you have uneven heat. If I want my living room to be not-freezing, my bedroom is super hot and the air conditioner is a must sometimes. Opening the window at night is too loud, even for earplugs (lots of sirens), and means I can't sleep. Also the fan can help distribute heat evenly, making the energy bill lower. :)
Air in heated spaces gets
Air in heated spaces gets really dry in winter, so you'd want a humidifier, not an a/c.
If you want to distribute the heat, use a box fan. Then you can turn down the heat and put the fan in the doorway to bring some heat into the cold room. An a/c fan can only blow air away from itself -- a box fan can be anywhere.
Having an a/c in the window means more noise from outside, since the flimsy plastic fanfolds don't block sound nearly as well as a closed window.
The ac provides white noise
The ac provides white noise which works better than just a closed window. You're right about the dehumidification. That's what I was trying to say, but I mixed up my words. Strangely, in some rooms the air doesn't get dry enough without the ac. The problem with a box fan is buying one - some places come with the ac already. That and if you put it in the doorway or anywhere on the floor you're blocking of floor space and creating obstacles. That can be an issue for people with mobility disabilities or for very tiny apartments.
Okay this occurred to me - do we even know the AC was on? Sometimes the only thing that's possible is to leave them in the window year round, especially the big ones.
I know it's not the best option for all spaces, but in my experience it actually has been the best option for a few. I was surprised.
If you want white noise, get
If you want white noise, get a white noise machine.
Running the a/c and the heat at the same time is always a terrible option, unless you enjoy throwing your money (or other people's money) out the window. If the heat is too high or uneven, fix it.
AC for white noise
Most (all?) window AC units have a fan setting, so it's not like you have to waste a ton of money on white noise, if that's your thing.
Heat and AC running at once.
Heat and AC running at once. Future generations will hate us and we will deserve it.
Must be nice to have control over your heat
Many people do not have their own thermostat in their unit, and need to do what they have to to stay healthy.
That's because some multi-unit properties still have one boiler for the entire building. This also means that heat is included in rent, since it can't be metered.
You could work on an ordinance to require individual unit control, though.
Or people could open the
Or people could open the window for a couple minutes instead of wasting a ton of electricity. Do people keep their freezer open when the oven makes their kitchen hot?
Noooooo, because leaving the
Noooooo, because leaving the freezer open would cause the freezer motor to work harder, making it warmer.
Maybe just maybe
You should count your blessings that you have never had to live someplace where you have no control over the thermostat.
These units function like window fans, too - blow in air from outside without running the compressor. That solves any "open window" problems with gusts of wind or rain or snow coming in.
You have no idea.
If there's one boiler, there
If there's one boiler, there should still be ways to control the heat separately in different units.
If there are steam radiators, they should have knobs to turn them off. The non-obvious part is that you can't turn the knobs on halfway -- they have to be fully open or closed. If they're broken, get the landlord to fix them. No sane landlord would want people opening the windows or running the a/c while the heat is on.
If there's hot water baseboard heating, there should be separate zones. Unless a big apartment was later divided into smaller ones.
Things don't always make sense
Imagine this scenario. You and your daughter are fleeing a domestic violence situation. You have been living in a shelter, and now you are told that there is a two bedroom unit available for you on the 4th floor of an old apartment building.
You move in, and realize that the only control of the temperature is to open the windows, but that lets in city noise and snow and rain. The heat can't be lowered because of the elderly couple on the first floor, according to the landlord. There is no thermostat in the unit.
You have no credit cards and your rent and car and your kid's needs are sucking up all available cash. You have no other options for housing.
You know that a coworker is willing to lend you her small AC unit. It will at least create a controllable form of air movement from the outside.
Your move.
That's some creative fiction
The actual situation is that this is a first floor apartment where the guy arrested was standing outside on the ground. A look at the street shows no fire escapes where someone would be able to enter even second floor apartments.
There are many reasons why
There are many reasons why some residents living in BHA leave a.c in during winter months. Most of the elderly do it because they don't have the strength to remove and replace it. Also some residents are still smoking in there apartments so non smokers feel that it is a way to get forced fresh air once in awhile. Most people leave them in but don't use them.
It is strange to me that you all find the time in your busy lives to be so critical of other people's way of life. If BHA doesn't have a problem with a.c's in the windows then why should we??? You people can't wait to jump on the poor and put them down. It's sad. Must be an amazing life you live.
Are you going to install a boiler for each unit?
Really? So generous of you.
https://www.google.com/url?sa
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&...
Lo and behold, he's in the Colorado court system for 2 cases!! I tried to paste the link, not sure if it worked or not.
"hot prowl"
hot prowl burglars ( who will break into a home if they know people are present) are the worst of the worst- they're the ones that most often will rape/assault/harm inhabitants.
Originally from Milford. Went
Originally from Milford. Went to UMass Dartmouth. Was a bartender in Denver.
https://www.facebook.com/gui.laroche.9
Kudos to that woman for having stood up for herself!
What business did the (would-be burglar have trying to bust into her apartment in the first place?
Um ...
Burglarization business, perhaps?
scary thing about this
...is that he continued to push back once his presence was known. Most burglars want nothing to do with being confronted and will run off as soon as they're "made." The ones who don't -- or who knowingly break in to an occupied residence -- usually won't hesitate to commit more than burglary. It might even be what they set out for.
Not to overstate the point
But the comments about this guy being potentially very dangerous are spot on! Most burglars are going to think "Oh, crap" and take off as soon as they know someone's home and awake. The ones who aren't deterred (especially at night) are more likely to be rapists or worse. I hope the courts take that into account.