So yesterday I got this lovely email from my community email group...

(Oh... MOM... stop reading.... NOW!!!)

WEST COUNTY
Armed robbery

Two masked men robbed a man at knife-point near an Odenton apartment (actually it was a condo) complex Thursday night, county police said.

The man told police he was walking in the 2400 block of Chestnut Terrace at about 7:55 p.m. when two men approached him and pulled out a knife.

The robbers ordered the man to empty his pockets. After taking the man's cash, the men ran behind a nearby apartment building, police said. The victim was not injured.

One robber is described as black, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 140 pounds, and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, white shoes, and a ski mask.

The second man is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 180 pounds, and was wearing a red sweater and dark ski mask

Regular readers and Twitter/Facebook followers know that I am house hunting... and my mother is not happy with at least one of the neighborhoods that I have been looking in. But I will take this blog post to point out that crime happens everywhere (and it is really picking up in Odenton!!..Example 1 and Example 2). You cannot live in fear....but you can be aware of your surroundings (which I usually am...) If I notice a car behind me late at night... and they follow me onto the road before the street my home is located on... I have been known to skip my street and continue on in a round about way and if they are still behind me the plan is to head to the Police station (which I have never had to do :)). Know your neighborhood! If something makes you suspicious... take precautions!

Sent from my BlackBerry