Someone tried to break into my wife's car and I learned some things

As the title states, someone tried to break into my wife's car at about 0250 local time. I was laying on the hallway floor outside my daughter's bedroom waiting for her to go back to sleep and I was almost asleep myself. I was brought fully alert by the sound of a car alarm and it took me several seconds to realize it was coming from my wife's car. I got up and raced downstairs and turned on the outside lights. The way my townhome is layed out, it has a detached garage that sits in front of the front door about 12 ft. There is an uncovered unit-designated parking space next to the garage building. That's where my wife's car was sitting. I don't have great visibility of the car through the front window of my house. I was able to see the most of the hood and part of the passenger side of the card, but the entire driver's side is blocked from view. I watched for about 30 seconds trying to decide if I should go out and possibly cause a conflict with the suspect or if I should just call police (I work for dispatch for my local department). Before I made a decision, the alarm turned itself off. I decided to go out and check the car for damage and see if entry was made into the vehicle. I went upstairs and opened my safe. This took two attempts to input the correct code and gain access. I grabbed my Ruger LC9s and put it in the pocket of my sweatpants, safety off. I went back downstairs and grabbed a high-powered streamlight flashlight from a cabinet and put shoes on.I went outside and immediately began scanning the area for possible threats. I approached the car and checked the passenger side first, checking for broken windows and damage around the edges of the doors. Seeing none, I check the back of vehicle. I also swept my light around the large (and fairly well lit) parking lot, looking around other vehicles to see if anyone was hiding. I am near-sighted and anything beyond 20 yards without glasses or contacts is kinda blurry, but I can still see. I didn't put glasses on when I got my gun. Seeing no one, I checked the driver's side of my car. I found that the driver's front door was just barely ajar, much like when you close a door but it doesn't quite latch all the way. I did a sweep with my light towards the back of my house (mine is an end unit and has a good 10 yard x 20 yard grass area between the next building. Seeing nothing, I went back inside to get the keys for the vehicle.I got the keys and went back out to the car. Hitting the unlock button on the key fob, the car chirped indicating the alarm system had been triggered. I opened the driver side front door and inspected it. I found that the weather stripping on the top towards to the rear of the door had been disturbed. It looked like someone tried to use a slim jim but got spooked when the alarm went off. I closed the door and re-armed the alarm system. I went back inside and called dispatch and requested extra patrol. I told them that someone had tried to break into the car but that they weren't successful. A patrol car arrived in the area about 6 minutes later and stayed in the parking lot for about 20 minutes.Things I learned:It took me way too long to realize that it was my alarm going off.I did not immediately go retrieve a firearm from the safe after realizing it was my alarm.It took way too long to open the safe. I need to get in the habit of unlocking the safe at night before going to bed so that the pistols are easily accesssible. I think I will also install mounts so I can keep my shotgun inside the closet above the door frame.It was luck that I had clothes on. I usually sleep in just underwear, but just happened to have sweats and a t-shirt from being up with my daughter.I didn't even think to put on my glasses before going outside. I usually wear contact lenses but take them out before bed.I don't have any easy-on shoes. It was luck that I was able to stuff my feet into my regular everyday sporty shoes without the backs getting all folded up.All of my "oh shit" items are spaced too far apart. The gun was upstairs in the safe. The flashlight in a cabinet downstairs. My shoes were right by the front door. I honestly had no idea where my glasses were. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2F6uiO1