Knock on the door

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Dustinthewind

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Had a knock on the door a few minutes ago, about 9:20 CST. I peep out the window and see a van in the drive and a young dude standing at the door, bathed in 1000 watts of motion detector lights. Standing to the side of the door I unlocked it and asked what he wanted through the locked screen door while I was halfway concealed behind the steel entry door. Guy says that he is selling steaks and do I want some, I reply that I am not interested. Now I know that door to door salesmen still exist but i felt this was kind of late to be peddling beef, so I re lock the door and call 911 to report it, cops are all busy of course! A few minutes later the van pulls up in front of my house and just sits there. BTW I was armed as I answered the door. Now I wonder was this a legit salesman or someone casing the area?
 
9:20 at night ?? No way. This guys either an idiot,thinking he's gonna sell something door-to-door that late.....or something's less than kosher.
 
call the cops back and tell them that there is a van parked in front of your house and it looks like the guy has a weapon... they will be there in about 2 minutes
 
Yeah, that's what I thought too especially since I live out in the country. Cops just called back, they are still busy but thought that it was suspicious also. I was going to follow the van and get a tag number but when I went to get in the truck I realized that my keys were in the house and I had to have my wife unlock the door as I had locked it on the way out:banghead:
 
call the cops back and tell them that there is a van parked in front of your house and it looks like the guy has a weapon... they will be there in about 2 minutes
Click to expand...

So they scream across town with all their emergency equipment going, scooting people off the roadway and going through occupied intersections readying themselves for what they believe could be an armed person? Risk not only the responding officer's lives, but others lives, because you want someone there in two minutes?

An emergency response to a call where he is certainly suspicious, but is it right? I don't think so. It's a great idea until a collision happens; then it's scrutiny galore because the officer was driving to an emergency call and, despite training and experience, hit a citizen or was hit going through an intersection.

Call 911 and understand that it's just like a triage system. The police in your area may have been on a true emergency. Calls for response are prioritized according to urgency and if they are in progress. Saying someone's possibly armed just to get an expedited response is not recommended.

My two cents.
 
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This guy definitely wasn't on the up-and-up.

Sorry to hear about the police response you received!

I see the other side of that equation myself, all too often. I work a rough area, and I'll often get calls from dispatch that they preface with "This call has been holding for two hours"... Yeah, that's great... Bet the caller is thrilled.

Of course, same thing can happen in rural areas where there aren't many cops to go around!

(Obviously I agree with Riceboy, you don't want to make up a story just for response time to a non-urgent call)
 
Dustinthewind,

Sorry; didn't mean to go off on a tangent and take away from your original post. If you know your neighbors, contact them and see if this guy came to their house, too. If he did, see if any of them got his plate. Otherwise, let them know of your experience and have them watch for this guy should he return. Enough of them may have got a good enough description or a plate, so should he return and decide to do bad things, you'll have everything you need to give to the police in the way of information.

Good neighbors are a great way to have eyes on your place or driveway should you be gone and something happen. Granted, there's a fine line between observant and nosy, but they're better than nothing.

Good thing to go with your instincts. If they screamed 'bad guy', then you're probably right. Lock up, keep an eye out, and if you see him again make sure he knows he's being watched by not just you, but everyone along your street or road. It's likely he won't come back to a neighborhood that watches his every move.
 
riceboy 72,

Good advice. I did call my neighbor across the road and they hadn't stopped by there. I will contact the other neighbor's later, most of which I meet for coffee once a week. We don't have an official neighborhood watch, but we all look out for one another. When this started out the door the guys lame sales pitch ended abruptly.
 
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if a stranger pulls into my driveway in an unmarked van I have every right in the world to be nosy. Maybe sit on your porch and polish/clean a gun next time he swings by

Just to clarify: I dont mean jump out on the porch wielding a .357mag and a riotgun over the shoulder. Keep it subtle enough that he knows it there and you dont have to act like a mall ninja decked out in tacti-cool gear.
 
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I actually used to drive one of those trucks for a living ( laste a week before I quit) it's possible that the guy had to make a sale to get gas bucks to get home.

That said almost everyone that worked for the company I was W/ was some one I wouldn't want in my house.
 
my cousin was thinking about taking a job doing something like that but he got to ride in one of the vans for a day to see if he liked it and he decided no. The people that he dealt with at the company were pretty shady and all travel expenses came out of the drivers pocket. Kind of a BS deal.
 
Good looking dog, Dustinthewind! There are days when I think something like him sinking his teeth into my leg would hurt way worse than getting hit with a baseball bat or zapped by a Taser.

I say this: if your dog and your stern demeanor with him doesn't turn away a would be prowler, then step it up. Your armed but cautious approach is the same thing I would've done.
 
I've had a couple encounters with the van meat dealers. I have also had the vacuum folks try to press in to the house. I haven't had one approach the house quite so late though.

Usually a late night, unexpected knock does raise some concern and a unknown vehicle returning to the neighborhood is even more suspicious. It's poor business business tactic on this guy's part. He could have been watching neighbor houses for movement and approaching them with his pitch as well or just as easy: casing the neighborhood for it's 'awareness' level.

Hope the situation resolves. I would keep an eye out and let neighbors know to do the same-- as has already been recommended.

Stay safe!
 
We had something similar to this happen a couple of years ago. We called the cops, and come to find out, he was a crack head casing houses that had garage doors open and was stealing out of them.
 
Man, your dog looks down right evil with those techno-color-crazy eyes. Sick em boy!

BTW: Forget the cops. Send the wife out around back and stuff his tail pipe with bananas (go Axel Foley on em!), I know, not very high road.

Good call with what you did. The guy doesnt sound on the up and up.
 
I always answer the door in my bathrobe and sweatpants (de rigeur for cocooning in the house) with my hand in the robe pocket. The feel of Mr. Steyr is always reassuring.
We did have an unknown party knock on the door one night at around 0230 hrs (up late with visiting friends) asking to "borrow" some money 'cause he was broke down. I said wait a minute, shut the door, handed my bro the .38 (I had a 1911) and said "watch my back." I wanted to see how many people were out there and have some backup. When I opened the door the skulker was gone. Next day the paper said the police were looking for him, as he had been casing the neighborhood.
 
I don't answer the door to strangers anymore. If I don't recognize you or your vehicle ("outfit" in MT ;) ), I slip out a door on the other side of the house and ease around the corner, keeping my distance. Helps prevent someone from just pushing in.
 
Let's see...

You opened the steel door to a stranger at 9:20pm...

You left the house to drive after him doped up on cold meds...

You locked yourself out of your house...

If you hadn't been doped up on cold meds - you would have thought to call the police to file a false report about a man with a gun...

Have I missed anything? Wouldn't this whole drama have been avoided by simply refusing to open the door after looking out the peep-hole and determining that it was nobody you knew or that was in obvious ditress?

I actually used to drive one of those trucks for a living.
Click to expand...

We were recently "cased' by a pair of very hinky looking "meat salesmen" in a refrigerated truck. I had never heard of this before - but apparently it is becoming more common.

I had to go out and talk to them because my wife had opened the door to see why the dog was going crazy. I hustled her in the house and told the "salesmen" we weren't interested. And then I instructed my wife to let the dog - and me - do our thing, without her putting herself at risk again.
 
Wow. There is some paranoid actions out there. You know how I know who's at the door? I answer it. Same way I know who is on the phone. Drive's my wife crazy I won't get caller ID. Why?

That doesn't mean I will open the door to anyone at any time, but I can answer the door looking through the small window near the top. Maybe because I live in the suburbs and the fact I am on a corner, people pull into my driveway all the time.. 99% of the time to turn around. The odd occasion I have noticed them parked I walked out and ask them if I could help them... armed of course.

Wow... I just think there is a big gap between being aware and calling 911 because someone knocked on my door. :rolleyes:
 
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