I just finished this post about crime in Atlanta when there was a knock at the door.  I jumped.  My neighbor, Johnny, was standing there. He had witnessed the M.F. stealing my laptop from my car at 4 a.m. about a month ago.  I knew, if he was at my door, he was reporting another crime.  I always lock my car and check my wife's car every night and always bring valuables in from the car but this thief catches us every time we screw up. The night of the laptop loss was due to having my arms full  and an upset little boy when I arrived home while talking on my cell phone.  I meant to go back out and get it from the car but I forgot and our personal thief was ready.  This morning's report was about another neighbor.  He stole the neighbor's mail.  Johnny saw him and followed him!  He saw him got through the package and then get on a bike around the corner.  He called the cops and described everything.  He told me, "we'll catch him.  When we do, he won't want to have met me." 

The saddest part is that my sister-in-law insisted that its Johnny.  ...and, for about a week, I considered that possibility.  My own brother-in-law had a little trouble and made my confidence in people less solid.  I'm not as naive as I once was.  But I'd hate to be a paranoid POS.  Johnny described the man I saw in my driveway the day my cell phone got stolen.  He is returning!  He is the same individual.  I am actually glad to think we have one person to deal with and not twenty.  I know he is not the only one and he may not be the one who actually stole my laptop.  He is, however, the thief of our cell phones.

If you live in my neighborhood near Monroe Drive, Atlanta, GA, here is his description:
Brown-skinned man about 5' 8" usually wearing a baseball cap and running sneakers.  He is typically well-dressed, looking as if he's just out for a jog. Black nylon jacket, black nylon pants.  Clean shaven.  He may be on foot or on a bicycle.  My wife saw him with another man on foot.  I've seen him by himself as did my neighbor.  They probably have a runner who gets the stuff and then run it back down Monroe, south of ponce, on their bicycles.  Or should I say, on the bikes they stole.  I think I once saw him walking on Orme pretending to read a newspaper and he walked. I had my son with me so I couldn't cross the street to get a better look.  The other day I saw him walking north on Monroe Drive.  I pulled into the next street to wait and get a closer look.  He never crossed that street.  I then saw him about thirty minutes later a few blocks north, he ducked into a driveway. 

If you read this and say, "oh my god, I've seen him!" or you've been robbed or otherwise victimized in Midtown or Morningside, please leave a comment. I am getting involved and need all the information I can get.