“homeless” Neighbors Using Their Kid To Manipulate And Rob Me

I live on a relatively busy college street in Cincinnati, a few doors down from a small convenience store.

There is this couple who are always around on the street. The woman, B, sits in front of the store with her ~8yo kid (J) most days asking passersby for money. The man (D) used to as well, separately, but I’ll get to that. They live together just around the corner from the store, but my friends and I all think they’re probably squatting.

Over the past few months I’ve given them some money or bought something from the store for them. Basically I was too kind to them and opened the door.

Now, some mistakes on my part. I let D borrow my bike. I saw him around with it a few times, and shortly after I stopped seeing him altogether. The last time I saw him, probably a month or so ago, he gave me a bag of weed unprompted and left.

Later on, I allowed J and B into my house for a second so that the kid could play a video game. Not my best decision. That day as I was talking to B, I asked her about my bike and she said that D “brought it to his friend’s house and left it on the lawn where it got stolen.” And then, as we were inside, J picked up my wallet and was messing around with it, so B wrestled it from him and put it on my table. After they left, I noticed that all the money ($30) inside my wallet was gone. And to top it all off, the kid bought a game on my PlayStation while I wasn’t paying attention. I talked to the kid at the store in front of his mom and she got all apologetic and offered to pay me back, not outright admitting anything, but why would she pay me back if she didn’t take it?

The next day, the kid came up to my porch while I was sitting outside. At this point I told him we cannot be friends anymore (he has really latched onto me) because his mom took my money and his dad took my bike. He left and apparently told her what I said. I went to my backyard to distance myself, and I heard her tell him from the front yard to go around back and look for me. So I circled back around to confront her. She got all defensive saying her family doesn’t steal shit (for sure trying to save face in front of her kid) and I explained that one way or another, her family is the reason I’ve lost $100+ and my childhood bike, my only mode of transportation since I don’t have a car, so I’m pissed. She pretty much backed down and left.

Yesterday, two days after all that, I woke up and found two folding chairs missing from my porch. That same day the kid came over by my house as I was standing outside and asked me what happened to my chairs unprompted. I asked him delicately if he knows who took my chairs, and in a bashful joking way with a big smile he said “we took them”. I asked about it more and he kind of backtracked and swore several times they didn’t. He slipped up again and said he knows where they are and then immediately corrected himself. It was obvious he knew something and was afraid of what would happen if he told.

I’ve discussed options with family and friends. Ideas floating around right now are calling the cops (who probably won’t/can’t do much), calling CPS (she berates that kid and he is not being adequately cared for), or filing a restraining order. The problem is I have no physical evidence that they have stolen from me.

And the thing is, I don’t know what these people are capable of. I don’t think they would resort to violence, at least not in an busy area that cops regularly patrol, but they’ve already retaliated by stealing my chairs, so I’m concerned what they would do if I did something to them. Up until now I have only been giving and they still stole from me. If they face consequences they will most likely assume it’s because of me. I’ve learned my lesson but I don’t know how to proceed. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.