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OT- Staying safe in your homes.

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Posted 2/20/2013 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
I was sitting at the kitchen table the other night playing solitaire on the computer. It was around 1:00am, and I hear a soft knock at my front door. I go to the door asking who it was, some guy answers some name and said his car broke down, could he use my phone. The oldest trick in the book, right. I answered I have no idea who you are and I am not opening my door for you to use my phone. He the asked me to call his girlfriend which I did and gave her the general area where he was at. I told him to get away from my door and to get out on the street to keep watch for the girlfriend. My next call was to the police who said a car was enroute because he had done the same thing a couple of doors down. Something I thought of immediately is why didn't he ring the door bell and why was he knocking so soft on the the door. AMy 2 dogs are going nuts the entire time this is going on, they were inside with me.

A couple of minutes go by and the guy came back to the door, this time he said he wanted to know if he could use my bathroom!!! I am thinking is this guy real, does he really think I am going to open my door to let him use my bathroom. So, I proceeded to tell him he best get off our property because the police will be here any second. The police were so slow in responding I might add.

I got my husband awake and he went out the backdoor to the front gates, he saw the guy standing there at the front door. The guy came over to the gates and offered my husband money to take him somewhere and he told the guy he did not want his money. He asked this idiot did he not know you don't knock on people's doors at 1:00 in the morning that do not know you and ask to use their phone or bathroom. He also told the guy the police were on their way and they could take him where ever he needed to go. about this time a police car came down the street & kept going so my husband whistled to them. The guy took off running once they got past our house. They went down & turned around & came back to our house. In that short amount of time the guy was no where to be seen. Husband says he probably hid between some houses up the street.

The next or same morning I let the dogs out and I walked up to my front gates to find a small lawn chair of mine in front of the gates. This chair sits over on the driveway by the garage door. Not sure if he thought he would try to climb over the gates or what, they have pointed spike end things on the tips. If he made it up there the spikes would hurt lol. The chair was moved there after the police came out & we were back inside which means he came back after the police left.

I noticed when my husband was standing at the gates it was dark up front which meant the porch light must have burned out. I ask my husband to put a new bulb in. The bulb was fine, it had been unscrewed by the guy.

I think this guy was trying to find a house with a door unlocked to get in to rob or whatever. So, keep those doors locked, even in the day time. My doors & gates are always kept locked regardless of what time of day or night. Stay safe everyone........Susie
Posted 2/20/2013 10:45 PM (GMT 0)
If the guy came back a second time knowing you were in the house, then I fear more than a robbery would have taken place. Unscrewing the porch light is one of the tricks we learned while on the police force when going to a domestic disturbance type of call.

We do keep a dog outside most of the time, but have other means of protection, that can be in our hands in ten seconds or less, without leaving the bed,... as we both have practice for. (yes we both practice) You may be surprised at what items can be used to buy yourself a little time to escape harm as well.

Some of these people are very bold and will stop at nothing to get what they want, so please be careful. And above all,... if time allows call 911

SE
Posted 2/20/2013 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
Charley had his 9mm in his hand the guy didn't see it. He would not have hesitated in using it either. Both of us are well versed with guns.
Posted 2/20/2013 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
This scenario has happened to me a few times, in various forms. Never ever let someone in your house you don't know... you did well to call his girlfriend. That's where it ought to have ended... but he was greedy.
Posted 2/21/2013 3:58 AM (GMT 0)
Susie I'm glad that you and your husband are ok.

We have two locks on our door and than there are two locks on the outside door, which we keep locked for this very reason.

Be safe everyone.

love and hugs
Loretta
Posted 2/21/2013 4:23 AM (GMT 0)
We've had an extreme boost in home robberies, and all kinds of other bad things in my area over the last year or so. We've taken a several precautions to make sure that someone would have an extremely hard time breaking into the house. I used to work at a place where we made custom security doors, screens, and window bars, so I've been walking my stepdad on how to build them, and we have all the windows covered, as well as the doors, including the sliding glass door that goes from the livingroom to the enclosed back patio, and both doors on the enclosed patio.

Just a word of caution to anyone, one of the worst things you can do is rely on the "security" from a store-bought security screen, burglers around here count on people to leave their front door wide open in the summer time, and have the security screen deadbolted, if you do leave it that way, you're very vulnerable to a break-in. I wont post it here in a public forum how they open the security screens, so you can email me if you're curious.
Posted 2/21/2013 1:20 PM (GMT 0)
Susie, glad you're OK, this is a scary scenario. Thanks for posting and reminding us to be safety conscious.
Posted 2/22/2013 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
Susie, that was one scary story and a close call. But you handled it very well and used your head.

david
Posted 2/25/2013 10:57 PM (GMT 0)
A very scary situation indeed! You were smart not to open the door or let him in, as well as to call the police. It's sad that we live in this kind of a world, where people feed off of the kindness of others. :(
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