Jan. 29, 4:53 p.m. Foothills Area
A woman who habitually stole debris from the yard of a disfavored neighbor—and had even once made a veiled threat to "steal" his child and pet—finally drove him to call the authorities when she made her victim's entire garbage can disappear, according to a Pima County Sheriff's Department report.
The reportee told sheriff's deputies he'd recently moved into his neighborhood and was getting along with all the residents except one: a woman who had apparently taken to trespassing through his gate into his yard, and pilfering random objects (like cardboard boxes, trash and other debris)—apparently out of a dislike for him and/or his family.
This wasn't "a big deal," the victim said, but there had been another incident when the woman came up to his wife outside their house and said mysteriously that "kids and dogs could possibly go missing" as well (evidently referencing his 5-year-old daughter and pet dog).
The woman didn't seem violent, but after that the reportee had been more closely watching his daughter when she played outside.
The most persistent problem was that the woman was now regularly making off with his family's entire garbage can: She'd done it so many times over the last few weeks that they'd started locking it in their shed—but of course it still needed to be put by the curb for garbage day.
Usually, the reportee said, the family was able to find it the day after its theft, just by searching the neighborhood—but after it was stolen last night, they couldn't find it anywhere. Oddly, the woman had also actually taken some trash from the garbage can and left it in a little pile on their front stoop, perhaps as an extra (nonsensical) motion of displeasure.
The can was described in detail as brown with a black lid and bright letters reading something like, "Tucson Trash Haulers." He said he knew it was the subject who's taken it because a neighbor had witnessed the theft.
Deputies recommended pursuing a court order against the woman, as well as possibly investing in a surveillance system for his house.
