23 Jun 2007 (times approximate)
- 8:50 PM
- Heard crashing sound. Thought it might be raccoons or skunks playing in the yard. While looking for animals out the guest bathroom door toward the shed I notice the sound of water running through pipes. I did not hear the sound from the upstairs bathroom. I thought it might be a broken hose or sprinkler valve.
- 9:00 PM
- Grabbed a flashlight and went outside. Heard water sounds coming from the NW corner of the property. As I got closer I saw a hole in the fence and water spraying up. Went outside the fence and found a large hole in the fence, uprooted shrubbery, and a broken irrigation water back flow/pressure relief valve. Turned off the water at the valve, but a reduced flow of water is still spurting out of a pressure relief hole in the valve.
Guess: something hit hard, taking out the shrubs, the irrigation back flow/pressure relief valve, and 2 sections of my fence. - 9:05 PM
- Some bystanders came by to offer a hand. They did not see what happened. Mitsuko went into the house to get some rubber gloves. I popped open the nearby water shutoff access hatch and turned off the valve that supplies water to the irrigation system. House water is on a separate circuit.
Grabbed camera and took pictures of the damage. - 9:15 PM
- Came in the house and called the county sheriff
- 9:20 PM
- Sheriff deputy (Chad) checked that no one was hurt and that the only damage was to property before leaving on what “might be a related call” of higher priority. He said he’d return, later.
- 9:30 PM
- Started writing these notes.
- 9:50 PM
- Sheriff returned. He calls the CHP who are responsible for reports in cases like this (hit-and-run) in our area. We see something that might be tire tracks on the sidewalk… or maybe a stain from run-off water.
- 10:50 PM
- CHP show up, take information, will issue a report. They note that the report will be very short: the water washed away any evidence they could gather.
24 Jun 2007
The next set of images were taken Sunday Morning. The first two are looking at the damage from the back yard. The rest show the damage from a wider angle. The green/red shrubs (Photinia) used to cover the gap such that you could not see the fence.
