Thief Steals Senior Citizen’s Presents

Someone has stolen all the gifts from under the twinkling lights of my Christmas tree. This someone saw the lights of Christmas through the window while I was gone for a couple of hours. The burglar-proof window was smashed. They took other things besides all the presents--a jacket from the closet and a pillow case from the bed to hold the loot. Is this what Christmas means to a person like this?

As a senior citizen, my own presents were clothes. Do they have them altered? This is the second time that burglars have stolen my Christmas presents. What kind of perverse neurotic is it that wants to steal presents from a senior citizen?

A couple of weeks ago, a lady in her 70s was mugged right in front of the house. The mugger got away, but the lady got a bloody head and her arm broken in four places.

We who live in downtown Long Beach want some protection from this relentless assault on our lives. How can Long Beach work so feverishly to reconstruct the downtown area and neglect the fact that living there is extremely perilous?

I should think that the basic right of a taxpayer is to expect some safety for his life and possessions. I do not mean that the city should round up all the unfortunate homeless people. I mean we should address the vile business of crime and criminals. There should be an enormous improvement in the patrol of dangerous areas.

As long as I didn’t have any presents this year, the city can give me one: more protection.

--FRANK MAPSON

Long Beach