Back to the Theft

The purpose of this trip last summer was, of course, to visit with Suerk. But there was much more to do, too. Having been in the care of the nursing home for about one year, Suerk’s own funds were exhausted. We needed the guidance of an elder law attorney to help us transition him from his Medicare status to his imminent MedicAID status. So we had a Friday afternoon-long session planned with the attorney. (More on that another time.) And as I’ve mentioned, we also had work to do and decisions to make regarding the home renovation. All that and a visit with Dad, Dave Tyson and Don Hill would make for a good and busy weekend. But everything would change because of the robbery we learned of on our flight into Cleveland.

Stephen and I endured our connection from Cleveland to Erie in kind of sick, stunned silence. Where would we begin? And how would we break the news to Suerk that his house had been robbed? We drove the rental car directly to Hilltop Road and found that the neighbor had been correct. Everything of value that could have been removed from the home was gone – family silver, antique tables, the entire clock collection, and Suerk’s most valued possessions, his violin and bow. All were gone. None of the neighbors and friends had any idea when the goods were removed. And other than some uneducated suspicions, we had no idea who might have robbed the little home on Hilltop Road.

Stephen followed his smart instinct to the local pawn shops while Suerk and I were meeting with the attorney. He had already located many of the valuables on display and tagged for sale at two Erie Estate Buyers’ locations by the time we’d completed our session. That evening the police started their report and dusted the home for prints. The next morning, with a Millcreek Township police officer and a detective by our side, we started confronting pawn shop owners and collecting the valuables. By Saturday evening, the detective’s mini-van, the officer’s cruiser and our rental car were filled with Suerk’s belongings from four different shops.

During the process of the retrieval, it became clear who the suspects were – acquaintances of one of the sub-contractors helping with the home rehab. Suerk’s is a nice, quiet neighborhood. But word of an unoccupied home under renovation spread beyond the respected group of contractors working on the place. No one in the neighborhood noticed when two thugs backed their truck to the garage and filled it with the goods. The local pawn shops, following the letter of the law under which they operate, but not the spirit of the law, accepted the lie the thieves offered. Namely, that they had inherited the valuables from a family member.

The aftermath of the crime continues to unfold months later. We did recover most of the pieces, but the most monetarily valuable of his belongings are gone. The bulk of the silver had already been hauled off for melting and could not be recovered. Erie Estate Buyers, conveniently for them, had already sold six of Suerk’s most valuable clocks, and they have not been helpful in leading us to the clients who bought them. About a week after our departure, our new friend, Detective Chris, did locate Suerk’s beloved and unscathed violin and bow at a local instrument shop. The suspects were tracked down within a week of our trip. Both pleaded guilty. Both had prior arrests for similar crimes as this one – ‘theft by taking.’ Sentencing has yet to be accomplished. It will have been a month shy of one year since the theft when the sentencing finally happens. Like in most places, the wheels of justice in Erie turn slowly.

Clearly, there was tremendous luck in the timing of our visit. Had our trip happened a month later, little or nothing would have been recovered. But there were other pieces of luck which seemed to fall in place. After another unfortunate but less catastrophic violation of Suerk’s property had occurred shortly after his accident, Suerk’s then power of attorney and friend, John Bush, took video and digital photos of everything remaining in the home. We were able to use these images as solid proof of ownership of the goods for sale in the shops, and also to identify which items had already been sold. Also, the theft of the silver helped seal the fate of the thieves. Pennsylvania law requires precious-metals pawn shops to get photo-identification. The identification the thieves offered was sketchy, but it presented us with another solid lead. What’s more, they failed to steal every piece of the silver, so the unique “S” monogram on three forks remaining in the home, and the matching “S” on the few pieces that weren’t yet melted proved to be more damning evidence.

I know it should not have surprised me that Suerk took the news in stride, but it did. He was more worried about Stephen and me and the trouble we had walked into than he was about the loss of his things. The loss of possessions, no matter how painstakingly collected over the years, was not something he intended to mourn over after all he’s been through. He repeated many times, “These are just things.” This kind of attitude is classic Paul Suerken. If you ever wonder how much injury someone can survive, and how much insult to injury one can endure with a good attitude, look to Suerk for your answer.

I read him this entry today before posting it. When I finished there was a prolonged silence. Then he asked, “Matt, what’s that phrase my mother used to use, and the one your Grandma Helen still uses?” Before I could get it out, with his wry, dry sense of humor, he imitated them both.

“Isn’t that the limit! Isn’t that the limit!”