Targeted

Imagine that you're driving along and a light comes on. You know, one day of those dashboard lights. What do you do? Many of us might keep on driving, hoping the issue will resolve itself, or promising in our heads to get it checked later.

Well, that very situation happened to HoCo community activist and blogger Lisa Markovitz. Sharing with permission:

Very bad and scary news today. Someone cut my ABS, Tire control, Stability control and other safety features from my brake system, on both front brakes, with a clipper. It is even worse than cutting the brake lines, as that would have not gotten me very far. This was a very bad accident waiting to happen. A warning light went on that I luckily decided to have checked out right away, and this was found. The police are investigating, and the officer and the service people have said they have not seen anything like this. It was insidious and targeted. The officers have recommended certain safety issues for us, and we are very concerned. They told me to share with the public. They found wires in my driveway that are in evidence. Feeling very anxious and confused right now.

This is a crime that could have resulted in serious injury or death. It is not a prank like egging your car or a simple destruction of property like slashing tires. It's not your basic theft of items left in an unlocked vehicle. It is careful and calculated and it is meant to do harm.

What I am thinking about this morning is that someone in our community feels targeted for harm, and that someone else in our community is the kind of person who would do such a thing. Both ideas fill me with dread. Whether it is a random troubled person who might tamper with anyone's car, or an individual with a particular bone to pick with Ms. Markovitz, it is a sign that something is gravely wrong in our little suburban world.

Right now I don't really much care which one it is, although "random" would be much less creepy. I just want the perpetrator to be located and taken into custody quickly so that Ms. Markovitz and her family can feel some sense of relief from the fear they must be experiencing. And so that no more harm will be done.

As a local blogger the worst I have ever experienced is people writing nasty things and falsehoods about me online. And once someone left an anonymous letter at my house. That's just nothing compared to this.

I don't want to believe that Howard County has crime like this. Clearly it does.


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