I think I avoided a kick-in robbery today?

[Macchina]

My wife and I were at our cabin this afternoon enjoying the coming spring and the end of the weekend. Or place is in the woods off any major roads with a car driving by maybe every other hour. We rarely get visitors but the neighbors do stop by if they need something. I was surprised today when I heard a car pull up and somebody knock briskly on the side door (our front door is on a large raised porch and obviously the main door). I looked through the shades and noticed the person knocking was standing beside the door and not visible through the window. This is odd because the landing outside the door is small and he was standing on the stairs leading up to avoid being in front of the door.

I didn't want to open the door but he wouldn't leave after a few knocks. I put on my 357 Ruger LCR and walked out my front door and staying on my porch I looked around the side of the cabin at the guy knocking and noticed he had a buddy in the car parked in my driveway. I asked what he wanted and he awkwardly asked me if I wanted "my yard raked". Mind you: this is a cabin in the woods with leaves everywhere and a completely unmaintained yard that has never been raked. The two guys were in their 30's and driving a very beat up Chevy Blazer. I told him " no thank you, I don't need any yard work done" and walked back inside. They left shortly after going slow and staring at my place the whole time.

The whole situation felt very off. Unfortunately beyond putting on my gun (I do this anytime I don't know a person at the door) I didn't really read the danger in the situation until I saw that there was a second guy in the car and I was already outside. I didn't really think it was possibly a robbery attempt until after they had already left. Knowing all the details afterwards, I never should have gone outside but my doors are thick and you can't talk through them at all. I put out two security cameras but can't help but feel they were either casing the place or even ready to push in if I had answered that door. Asking to rake my cabin property was similar to asking someone who lives in a swamp if you can water their cattails.

Any advice? Anyone have a similar situation?

 

[medalguy]

I have had people drive up and knock on my door before but I've never seen a second person in a car.

Several years ago we had a guy knocking at about 7 AM. I answered the door and he asked if some guy lived there. I said no, never heard of him. I asked why and the guy said he was supposed to work for that guy, and I noticed there was no car outside. When I asked about that he said he walked up my road (about 300 yards) which I thought unlikely. He left, but about 2 weeks later we had a forced entry when we were gone for the day. Related? Yeah, probably.

I think you did OK but next time don't go outside. Just wait and see what the guy does. Good idea putting on the gun.

 

[qwert65]

Sounds like you did too me

 

[230RN]

Check with your neighbors. That will put them on alert status even if they didn't have lawn raking (or cattail watering) inquiries.

 

[Macchina]

I did drive around to make sure they weren't at any cabins that were empty and I warned the live-in neighbors down the road. I can't stand thieves.

 

[Deog]

Should have got the plate number.

 

[Black Knight]

Too bad you didn't have a Remington 870 in your hand. You could have walked out your front door and around the side. When you see them and they see you say something to the effect that you were just getting ready to do some spring turkey hunting then ask can I help you. Imagine the look on their faces. A country cabin should have at least one good shotgun and a few boxes of hunting ammo in it.

 

[longspurr]

Be a good neighbour and call the local sheriff. Tell them as much detail as you can about the vehicle and the 2 men.

If you already have security cameras, think about putting up a sign saying ADT or some other security company and put up a fake camera in a very conspicuous place. Have the real cameras less visible.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

The whole situation felt very off. Unfortunately beyond putting on my gun (I do this anytime I don't know a person at the door) I didn't really read the danger in the situation until I saw that there was a second guy in the car and I was already outside. I didn't really think it was possibly a robbery attempt until after they had already left. Knowing all the details afterwards, I never should have gone outside but my doors are thick and you can't talk through them at all. I put out two security cameras but can't help but feel they were either casing the place or even ready to push in if I had answered that door. Asking to rake my cabin property was similar to asking someone who lives in a swamp if you can water their cattails.

Any advice? Anyone have a similar situation?

I think if nothing else you've probably learned some things.

I think if you'd had been alone your actions would be more reasonable. However having someone you are trying to protect in the house while you're on the end of the front porch might not have gone as smooth if the unknown decided to kick in the door while you were out there.

For me personally, a great deal of decision in a situation like that is based off whether or not you are by yourself or there are others (you care about) in the house.


As long as you take away/learn something from this it's worthwhile. Continue to evaluate and replay the circumstance and figure out what you'd do differently if it happens again.

And I also vote for informing the local PD about the encounter.

 

[lemaymiami]

Macchina, glad you were lucky enough to be home... A few thoughts - you were definitely a burglary target (robbery is taking something from a person by threat or force...) but it would have quickly escalated into a robbery once they entered and found the place occupied....

Yes, report the incident - you might save one of your neighbors from getting hit... Your best defense is always good neighbors so make a point of telling the ones you know about what happened. The usual routine for house burglars is to knock on the front door (with some kind of excuse ready if someone's home...) then go around the rear to find if there's an easy point of entry if no one's home... I did 22 years as a cop and can't tell you how frustrating it is to take reports from homeowners who've had a break in - knowing that the odds of catching whoever it was are almost tougher that filling an inside straight...

If you don't have any close neighbors then you might consider an alarm system, etc. but the reality is that by the time you actually get a response out in the countryside you can bet that the bad guys are long gone...

Remember that there are lots of young deputies who'd just love to catch guys breaking into houses. If you can provide a description of the low lives and a vehicle with tag number - they actually can be looking for it instead of just coming out and taking one more report from a not so happy homeowner....

 

[F-111 John]

Did you give a description to the county Sheriff?

 

[Tirod]

Call the sheriff and give details.

Expect the house to be ransacked in the future.

They are LOCALS and they will be in the area to monitor inactivity. It's a losing battle without getting the local LEO's involved. Only they will be around to prevent an intrusion while you aren't there.

Property in the country is always at high risk of entry when there are no inhabitants. Local ne'erdowells looking for stuff to steal can and do frequent unattended housing for the goodies. Those who live on farms but work a day job already deal with this as rural break-in's are frequently reported in the news - usually after some get caught and the goods are identified.

A few security cams aren't enough as a preventative but at least might deliver a time date when they got in. Dogs don't work out as leaving them unattended all week isn't appropriate.

Most wilderness cabin owners don't even lock the doors in remote areas. People in need may need shelter in the winter and others will just break in anyway. Goes to the decorating theme, too. Primitive. If there's nothing to steal and no reason to bust it up, with an open door policy, things are left alone.

A cabin out in the woods sounds like a nice idea, the problem isn't the wildlife you go to see, it's the wilders who come to ransack it. We get away from civilization and yet it comes along to spoil things anyway.

 

[TimSr]

Be a good neighbour and call the local sheriff. Tell them as much detail as you can about the vehicle and the 2 men.

If you already have security cameras, think about putting up a sign saying ADT or some other security company and put up a fake camera in a very conspicuous place.

Can't stress enough the need to report things like this so that when the place 1/2 mile away gets broken into the next night, they have suspects. Broad daylight break ins are very common, with these unoccupied places in the middle of nowhere, and they are very vulnerable. Robberies are unlikely, but chances are they were checking to see if anybody was there so they could burglarized. While stepping outside might have seemed like a bad idea, letting them know you were there may have prevented a burglary with the surprised of you being there AFTER they just committed a serious crime.

The best protection for an isolated cabin is to make it look occupied, and modern technology is your friend. Game cameras and video cameras can now be remote operated, and send real time information to your cell phone. Low energy motion activated lights that can be run off a battery and a solar charger are cheap. Those timers that turn lights, TVs and radios off and on automatically have been around for years. And of course, knowing the neighbors who might notice activity there never hurts.

The only thing I might add is taking a picture of them and their vehicle through the window before going out, and obtaining the license number if at all possible.

 

[tarosean]

course it could have been just a couple guys needing some spare money and willing to do an honest days work.

 

[Kookla]

Around here, there's guys who will drive up and knock on doors looking to see if you need any yard work/tree work done.

 

[LoneGoose]

Advice to everyone - In any situation, use your cell phone to take a picture of the person(s) before even speaking to them. If they're ne'er-do-wells, that action will upset their plans enough to confuse them. If they object to having their picture taken, they're no good. Plus, you have photos when you report the suspicious activity to the gendarmerie.

 

[old lady new shooter]

I agree with the folks who advised informing local law enforcement about the encounter, with descriptions of the vehicle and the two guys.

Although it wouldn't look very cabin-y, you could also install security doors outside your wood doors, that way you can open the wood door to talk to whoever's outside, with no worries of them kicking the door in.

And/or considering installing intercoms enabling you to speak to visitors without opening the door.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Sounds like you did some things right, and some things wrong, but you learned from the experience.

I agree with the others that a description being reported to the sheriff may be a good thing. Hope nothing bad happens.

I've answered my door late at night with a gun in my hand. Once it was a police officer. He was looking for some kids that had ran away from the local juvenile detention center. I yelled through the door asking who it was. When he yelled back "Sherriff's Dept" I looked through the window to confirm. I recognized him as one of our local LEO's, so I put the gun down, and went outside.

Consequently, I hate that my door has a window on it. I may be replacing it.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Is there a second story window you can talk out of?

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by Black Knight:

Too bad you didn't have a Remington 870 in your hand. You could have walked out your front door and around the side.

Not at all prudent. That's an extremely good way to get shot.

 

[Macchina]

I just called and left an informational report that will be sent to the local cruisers. The more I think about it the more sure I am that they were up to no good.

I have a couple of trail cameras (I use them for deer scouting) set to take video triggered by any motion trained on the two accessible sides of the cabin. My neighbors were made aware of the incident and offered to keep an eye on the place this week.

I understand that sometimes people do want to rake leaves but this is usually offered in the Fall and my cabin is just built in the forest without any real yard. I can't imagine they get much or any business for miles around in this area as most everyone either has forest for yard or so much junk piled up that you can't see the leaves...

 

[Macchina]

Posted by Black Knight:Not at all prudent. That's an extremely good way to get shot.

Yeah, I'm comfortable (of course) with carrying concealed when I talk with people on my property but I don't want to live in a world where people brandish guns just because they never met somebody before. That's wild west stuff and honestly would just tell a potential burglar that I may store guns in the cabin.

I met one of my neighbors for the first time a bit back in the same manner as these guys (drove to his house and knocked on their door). He let me in after I introduced myself as his neighbor and I met his wife and we talked for an hour. If he had answered the door with a shotgun we would have a lot different relationship than we do now.

 

[buck460XVR]

Was you vehicle in sight or parked in a shed or garage? This may dictate to me whether or not the "yard maintenance" question was valid or whether or not they were indeed scoping out their next mark.

Long time ago I learned to make note of license plate numbers and some feature unique to folks that I can identify them with whenever I have a similar situation....and I have many a time at my son's cabin, which sounds very much like the OPs. Locals looking to make some monies off the "city slickers" will come around and ask to do odd jobs when they see a vehicle in the drive/yard of a cabin they know is usually empty. They see a vehicle, they know someone's probably there. Many times this doing "odd jobs" is a way they get to expand their hunting/mushrooming areas, by making friends and getting permission. This time of year, morel hunters knock on the cabin door all the time to seek permission to got mushrooming......I often suspect if there is no one there at the cabin that day, they go anyway, knowing that no one will see them. This time of year we use Trail Camera's more than during hunting season as those folks that trespass for mushrooms are more numerous than hunters. For some reason they don't consider taking mushrooms without having permission as stealing or trespassing. Since Morels wholesale for $14 a pound around here, they are valuable to many folks than a deer or turkey, and thus they are willing to take the risk of getting caught. If they are local and familiar with the area, sometimes a vehicle in the driveway means they stop and ask, no vehicle means they don't have to.

As for what else to do, a trail cam on the cabin and outbuildings is a must if the area is out in the boonies and empty most of the time. My son has one of those that he can look at from his cell phone since the last time something ended up gone.( a coupla tree-stands from the shed). He also has invested in one of those doorbells with a camera in it that connects to his cell phone. That way he can respond to the doorbell without being there, giving the impression he is there and does not want to come to the door. It also gives him a picture of who the person ringing the doorbell is.

Also, when I get someone like the folks in the OP that stop by, I ask their name and where they are from, indicating to them, that altho I don;t have a need for them now, I might want to have them help me in the future. This will usually tell me if the "help" question is legitimate or not. If they really want work and they are legitimate, they will not hesitate to give you this info. It also gives you more time to get familiar with how they look if you need to identify them in the future(especially if you catch them on your trail-cam later).

 

[SeanSw]

Same story here. We were cased in a near identical fashion and it ended up shortly afterwards as a rear entry daylight break in. The detective suggested it was a 3 man job and believes they are now in custody. Three men aged 16,19, and 20. One driver, front door, and back door. We lost some good stuff but not everything.

 

[WestKentucky]

I always wondered what would happen in situations like this if a man intentionally made his place look booby-trapped. Complete with very conspicuous cables running to fake pineapple grenades and such. I can't imagine anyone being stupid enough to break in to a house if they think it will trigger an explosion...pet grizzlies seem interesting too.

Of course that's in jest...but I do suspect that a motion activated alarm would make an impression, especially if you could get them to think your down at the creek fishing or out in the nearby brush hunting or whatever.