Roommate Search Gets Harder...

Ok, so we have a little secret at Cafe 227 (well, it's not really a secret for anyone who's lived in DC for more than a couple of weeks): Cafe 227 is unsafe. The neighborhood is unsafe. Not as unsafe as it used to be before the "progress" train of gentrification came chugging through, but unsafe nonetheless.

To wit: a 33-year old man was randomly shot and killed up the block from Cafe 227 last week.

And closer to home (but not nearly as tragic), Cafe 227 was itself the target of break-ins twice in the last 24 months. The first time, the perpetrators got away with our former roommate's bicycle. (Contrary to popular belief, I did NOT sell her bike to the neighborhood kids for $10 and a bag of Lil Romeo's "Bar-B-Q'in With My Honey" Rap Snacks. It really was stolen.)

The second break-in occurred on the night of November 28, 2005. None of us were home - we were all at the bar watching the Steelers getting manhandled by the Colts. A thief took this opportunity to pry open our back door with a shovel (which he kindly left for us; see picture below), grab a bottle of low-budget fruit-infused vodka, and run out of the house before the alarm went off. Thankfully, nothing else was stolen. Even more thankfully, we were finally able to rid ourselves of that bottle of rancid liquid that someone so thoughtlessly brought as a "gift" to one of our parties.

Nonetheless, you can see how a potential rommate could be put off by this incident (i.e., "What if next time they take my collection of autographed Scott Stapp albums? What if next time they KILL ME IN MY SLEEP?") So, we've been hoping to keep it under wraps, at least until our new roommate signs a lease.

But it looks like our efforts at discretion were in vain. Thanks to the Washington Post's on-line database of police reports, the whole incident is disclosed right here...