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The price of protection
By RYAN MALDONADO ST. PETERSBURG -- Since last year, James C. Rahe's Childs Park house has been ransacked six times by thieves who want the tools he keeps around for his tree trimming business. He's desperate to keep out the burglars. "I put a fence in on the windows, nailed the front door shut and put two locks on it," Rahe said. "I finally got my belly-full of nobody doing anything." Discouraged by what he described as the little help police had offered in the past, Rahe has resolved to stop reporting the break-ins and take the matter into his own hands. All of his windows are now nailed closed, and boarded up with plywood or lined with wired fencing. He has no way of getting out of his own front door, he has no view, and he's short a VCR and television. He does have a new enemy though, perhaps more fearsome than any burglar: the city. Rahe is being cited by the city's code compliance agency for sealing his front door with plywood after burglars popped the glass windows out. He said he went down to the agency last week seeking advice on how to secure the house and to inform city officials that he had nailed the home shut, leaving only the back door accessible. If he doesn't comply he could face fines of up to $250 per day for the missing glass and other violations. But the code compliance agency said Rahe could avoid the fines if he makes a sincere effort to fix the problems. "They've broken into the house 10 or 11 times since 1980," Rahe said. "They get in there and they walk around and just throw things and walk out -- they leave the door standing open. And I get a violation." According to Rahe, the agency told him the police would help but that he has to remove the wooden boards and the fencing or get fined. Rahe's makeshift safety measures are a fire hazard, officials told him. "There's a requirement on occupied structures that all of the windows and doors operate," said Sally Eichler, director of code compliance. "There are professionals that can provide resources to him to secure his home. We're in a role of almost trying to protect him from himself." But Rahe doesn't believe he has to pay to be safe. He said one alternative that his neighbors use -- bars -- costs too much. "How can they get out (of a fire) with bars?" Rahe said. "You can only lay down so many times and pretty soon, you get tired of it." Rahe says some of his neighbors also have given up on calling police. A former Childs Park resident even sold off her two homes because of the frequent burglaries. A neighbor, Larry Jones, who recently moved into one of the houses said he was in the middle of remodeling when burglars broke in and took his tools -- the only he thing he had in the house at the time. "They took what they wanted and left," Jones said. "Now, we've put up new windows and keep (the house) locked." But police officials say they are doing all they can to help residents. "A lot of times a victim will think, "Ah the cops are doing nothing.' That's not true," said police spokesman George Kajtsa. "We take each and every case seriously, yet based on the evidence that we have is what will assist us in closing the burglary." But Rahe, who has lost about $3,000 in equipment, said there seems to be no hope. "I've asked the city ... is there anything you can (do) to help the people over where I'm at?" he said. "How could anybody have pride in their neighborhood when they can't secure it?"
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