Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Kicking It in an unsafe place

Elizabeth Youngman-Westphal

Special to The Village News

The tell is in the arch of the swing. It signifies the lightning quick lift off of a majestic Hooded Oriole male as he springs from the hummingbird feeder into flight back to his mate.

We are blessed to enjoy two, yes, two breeding pairs of Hooded Orioles in our garden. They have returned faithfully to nest and raise their young for about eight years. The males fly in first to scout locations usually in mid-March. They are followed by the dainty ladies a few weeks later.

We have been honored by these grand pairs as they drink from our hummingbird feeder, sip from the birdbath and, even occasionally, take a robust splish-splash in the basin.

When the boys take off in mid-August, the mothers remain preparing the nestlings for their first independent year.

I felt very tranquil until out of nowhere, I was confronted with evil in the middle of the day – right before my eyes on, of all days, Cinco de Mayo.

We can no longer feel smug about our Fallbrook neighborhoods. Apparently, this isn’t a safe place to live any more.

Here is what happened.

At 2 p.m., I headed out to pick up the grandkids from school. The noise from the garbage truck rumbling up the hill caused me to poke my head out of the garage in time to see a 30-something-year-old-black man in a t-shirt and baseball cap scooping mail out of our mailboxes!

He saw me as I saw him. As fast as he could, he loaded a collection of mail into the back seat of a new-black-Chevy-Tahoe-type-four-door SUV. The right front window was down, so I saw the driver’s black arms from the shoulder to the steering wheel as his accomplice stuffed a handful of mail into the back seat before hopping in behind it. The driver shot down our hill, turned left at the bottom, and no doubt headed south on Mission before I could even finish the 911 report.

A graduate of the Senior Sheriff’s Patrol training, I did notice there wasn’t a front or rear DMV plate, (which may or may not have been an indication that it is a new-just-off-the-lot vehicle). Or, they might have pulled the plates. All of the windows were illegally blacked out and with no other distinguishing marks, they were all but invisible.

Or so they thought.

But. You’ve heard of stupid thief incidents, right? Well, this thief is vain.

He has bright red trim circling the rim over his black wheels. It turns out this is the only distinguishing mark on the vehicle. If you see it, call 911. There can’t be two in the county.

The deputy sheriff that called me back to follow up on my 911 call, admitted they probably wouldn’t get them that day, but, with the flashy red stripe around the rims, no doubt there would be plenty of other reasons to stop this SUV in the future.

Add this number to your phone right now: 760-728-1113. It is the direct line to Dispatch. That is the fastest way to report a “suspicious vehicle.” After all, the black SUV with red rims is driven by two characters of mischief.

One such reason is the vehicle sports illegal blackout windows. While it is just a fix-it ticket, who knows what might be found with a proper search? Possibly stolen mail?

I am breaking a promise to myself. I promised myself after the last federal election, I wouldn’t write anything that can be construed as “political.” But...

Yesterday was just the final insult. First, because a thief wouldn’t be prosecuted for dastardly deeds, and second, I had to stop for some Biden gas.

I am angry that gas has doubled in price. What a guy you got into office.

I use premium so it was $6.19 per gallon. It’s 20 cents cheaper out of town. Why is that? Double what it was just 2 years ago under the watchful eye of my POTUS.

To further the insult, your governor, (not mine, I never once voted for this person), won’t roll back state gas taxes to give the working stiff a break. No doubt, with all of this extra revenue from gas tax dollars rolling into the state treasury, it’s the Governor's stupid-head way of funding illegal immigrant services who take advantage of programs designed only for citizens.

G.N. and his band of hooligans have allowed all kinds of evil into our state while taxpayers and law enforcement persons have their hands tied. It’s a disgrace. And did you know his Aunt Nancy has ambitions for the White House?

Meanwhile, this governor and his constituents have 24-hour-around-the-clock security plus home protection. I for one wish to know who in Congress is richer than Maxine Waters? And can anyone cite a definitive example of how she has improved the Watts ghetto? Other than filling the minds of these people with hate speech. Can anyone tell me what one-good-thing she has done? Or what about Swalwell? He is a disgrace. How has he helped Californians? Sleeping with Chinese spies doesn’t qualify? Who are these people? And why are they drawing incomes for life?

To add insult to injury, they continue to have access to our hard-earned tax dollars as they become richer and richer. While we are left without protection where we live and sleep.

Let me paraphrase Harry Truman, “any public servant that gets rich while in office is a crook.” That sure as heck explains how the Dems made their fortunes.

Well, I got that off my chest. I am sorry to break my self-promise, but I am mad. Aren’t you?

Elizabeth Youngman-Westphal can be reached at [email protected].

 

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