Mark RonchettiCompte certifié

2/ It was about 9:30 PM, just before we were getting ready to do the 10 o’clock news. My wife was on the other end of the line terrified, her voice shaking and crying, with my daughters at her hip hiding in our closet.

3/ A few minutes earlier, Krysty had gone upstairs to put Ava and Ella to sleep for the night. She went back downstairs, and as she was watching TV, the handle on our front door started to shake. Someone was trying to get in.

4/ Krysty ran back upstairs, got the girls, and hid in a closet. As she hid, she heard the back door open and someone walking around in our downstairs living room. Krysty immediately called the police, and as they were on their way she made that call to me at the station.

5/ The next 10 minutes were terrifying. Krysty held a gun pointed at that closet door with our girls sobbing next to her. If someone opened that closet door Krysty would’ve done what she had to do to defend our family.

6/ For the moment, whoever came in the house was working their way through downstairs living room. The Albuquerque Police Department was rushing to answer the call and I left the station — driving as fast as I could to get home.

7/ Thankfully, the story ended with the police arriving just as the intruder took off through the downstairs sliding glass door. The police officers were helpful, competent, and compassionate.

8/ They did everything they could to figure out what happened but in the end we would never know who broke into our house that night. Too many stories of violence in our city end in a far different way.

9/ The article at the start of this thread demonstrates yet again how out of control our crime problem is. For too long we’ve had to accept violent crime as a part of life in Albuquerque. It doesn’t have to be this way. We are past the time of hoping our leaders will fix this.