It was 4:49 AM. I woke to a high-pitched buzz, like a dentist drill in the distance. At 4:55 AM, it came again—zzt-zzt—then the dull thunk of metal on asphalt. The air smelled a little like cold metal and damp leaves. I peeked through the blinds toward the townhome lot by the pool.
I checked the neighborhood app. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one. Five neighbors between Willowbrook and the pool posted clips between 4:47 and 5:02 AM: two figures in dark hoodies sliding under SUVs, a lookout in a small black sedan idling. One video caught sparks. Someone noted 3 hits in under 10 minutes. A nurse on early shift said her Prius screamed like a jet when she started it…