Something very strange happened tonight. . .

[nico]

This will be kinda long.
Let me preface this with a little background info. I'm a college student and live with my parents. Our house is on a corner and dead end (the cross street and main road in my neighborhood intersect next to my house).

This evening, at about 9pm, my dad got home (my mom and I were already home). As he pulled up, he saw a car parked in our driveway. When the guy drove away, my dad made a lap around the block to see if the guy had parked somewhere else and saw that he was now sitting on the side street that runs next to my house, a couple houses down. From where he was sitting, he had a view of our back door and sliding glass door that opens onto our deck. My dad immediately called 911 and checked our garage to make sure it was locked and nothing was missing.

Two police cars pulled up within a few minutes and the guy (we thought) began to drive away. He stopped in front of the house diagonally across the intersection from my house and started to walk toward the house when the officers stopped him. They stood there talking to him for about 10-15 minutes. When they were done, both cops left and the guy went into the house.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the whole thing. The cops didn't bother to tell us what was going on or call us back to let us know what happened. My mom is home alone pretty often, and will be more so after this weekend, since I'm moving closer to school, and I'm a little concerned.

What would you guys do in this situation?

 

[Low-Sci]

I think this guy is casing your house; he can't have good intentions.

Obviously, be sure to lock up well at night and make sure everyone has at least a phone no more than an arm's reach away. These things should really be standard practice though.

I'd need more information to go much further than that.

Does this man live in the house that he entered or is he visiting? Do you see this car constantly, and this is the first time you've seen anything amiss, or have you never seen this car or this person before as best you can recall?

Does anyone in your family have a job where they may have crossed someone?

Do you have a dog?

 

[nico]

Does this man live in the house that he entered or is he visiting? Do you see this car constantly, and this is the first time you've seen anything amiss, or have you never seen this car or this person before as best you can recall?

It's his house afaik. His family (wife and kids) moved in a couple months ago.

Does anyone in your family have a job where they may have crossed someone?

nope

Do you have a dog?

yeah, but she's a 10 year old, 40lb lab/golden retriever mix. She's not exactly a guard dog, but I was pretty surprised that she didn't seem to notice the stranger in the driveway. She'll often hear my or my parents' cars half a block away and usually makes a big deal when unfamiliar cars pull up.

I have my pistol within reach, but I'm going to get a holster for walking the dog after dark (anybody have any suggestions for a cheap holster for a CZ75B SA?)

 

[Geronimo45]

Maybe the Ken Null SMZ shoulder rig? It goes for $55.

 

[Low-Sci]

Might not be a bad idea to welcome him to the neighborhood. It would give you an opportunity to talk to him and maybe learn something about him. Obviously don't put yourself in harm's way to do it, use your judgement.

I think it was irresponsible of the cops to not let you know at the very least why he was in your driveway, but that's over. You might call the police again, nonemergency, and ask them what the deal was and if there's any cause for alarm.

I can't figure out for the life of me why this guy would be in your driveway. If he's a peeping tom, then it would be ridiculous to park in plain sight.

About how long are the time periods involved here? How long was he in the driveway, how long did it take your dad to find him on the sidestreet, until the cops showed up, etc?

 

[Zoogster]

Be cautious as always. Not that criminals are often the brightest bunch, but being that there is now a paper trail that connects him to your residence, he would be a logical suspect if a crime occured. As such were his intentions bad he should target a new clueless residence without existing suspicion and recent paper trail. Not that that should serve to comfort you as criminals are rarely that logical. One thing you could do is attempt to find out the info on the information card most police fill out when they talk with someone in the field. Whether they would release that info without a purpose is beyond me. That would at least give you a name and let you know who your dealing with.
I recently took a statistic of residential burglary per capita and using the formula of the so called 'average' of parents with 2.x kids found that it is about a 1 in 30 chance per year that your home will be victimized on average as an american. Obviously more if you live in certain areas.
But also keep in mind that neighbors and people in general can do wierd things or something that in thier mind made perfect sense and seems out of place to you. Perhaps he wanted a good look at some landscaping or home improvment idea he wants to do etc..Just be vigilant.

 

[nico]

About how long are the time periods involved here? How long was he in the driveway, how long did it take your dad to find him on the sidestreet, until the cops showed up, etc?

I have no idea how long he was there; just that he was there when my dad got home. My dad drove through the neighborhood before seeing him on the side street; maybe 10 minutes. It was another ~5-10 minutes until the cops showed up.

I can't think of any reason the guy would be sitting in my driveway either. If he was casing the place, you'd think he would at least try to be discrete about it. If it was something benign, you'd think he wouldn't have just gone down the street

 

[Low-Sci]

Its possible that he's just scatterbrained, got a phone call and is like me: driving + phone = no. Just pulled in wherever the least amount of thought was required. Its the only thing I can think of that makes a whit of sense.

You're right, it does seem strange. I'd call the police again non-emergency and ask if someone could tell you what was going on.

 

[hso]

Could be that he and his wife have some problems and he was just getting ready for the nightly tension at home. Instead of parking on the street he was in your driveway to avoid blocking traffic. He could have also had a few drinks before coming home and he was waiting before he walked into the "loving arms of his family". If he's got conflict at home then he wouldn't want to sit in his own driveway and risk having his wife or kids spot him and then have to deal with the questions of what he was doing sitting "out there" instead of coming in. Same for parking on the street in front of his own house. Since he lives nearby when your dad came home, he got out of the way and drove around the corner and parked again to keep from driving too far.

Or he's an international dog thief come to take the lab.

 

[ZeSpectre]

I can think of a lot of suspicious stuff and a lot of innocuous stuff. Rather than operate on guesses and such (which will wind you up tighter than a watch spring) it would probably be a good idea to try and get some facts. Go over with a "welcome" basket, say "hey we seem to have gotten off on an odd foot, let's try again, welcome to the neighborhood".

Crazy you may say... but it's along the lines of keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You would probably diffuse the situation and when he's relaxed a bit you will probably find out far more about your new neighbors than you otherwise might.

If he rebuffs your friendly offer then you have a (in my book) legitimate reason to treat him with suspicion after that.

 

[mbt2001]

There is no reason to think that he wasn't spying on his own house or PI to see if someones wife was having an affair or the other way around.

Being alert all the time is the catch phrase. Don't let some red herring distract you.

 

[Big Calhoun]

Could have been a casing scenario, could have been something completely innocent. Best thing to do is take note of the incident and secure your premises. Also, you should case your own home to see what is visible from the outside. Can a potential burglar see that brand new 50 inch WEGA you just got. Do you still have boxes from that super-duper Pentium 4000 computer you bought last Christmas still in the garage? Think like a criminal to help avoid becoming a victim of one.

 

[AJ Dual]

If he's a neighbor that lives in sight of your home, he dosen't need to park anywhere to case your house. He can watch it right from his.

The odds are that it's innocent, or at minimum, it has nothing to do with your home or family. As the others said, he was most likely killing time for some reason, as others have said. Cell phone call, or even finishing a radio program before going inside, and didn't want his family to see him and wonder why he wasn't coming in.

Keep your guard up, your family showed good awarness and did everything right.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Or you could just ask him. Go over and said "Hey I noticed you were parked in my driveway the other day?" in a friendly way, maybe after giving him a welcome gift like a plant. See how he responds.

 

[Just_a_dude_with_a_gun]

The dude is wierd. That's all I can tell.

 

[Exmasonite]

i'd think about getting some motion sensitive lights +/- a motion sensitive camera. I'm sure there are some lower end, reasonably priced systems to help give you some piece of mind and deter any would-be intruders. couple other thoughts:

- how's your mom feel about firearms? at least some sort of mace/oc spray...

- any chance you and your dad can mix up your schedule for awhile? start making random stops home, break any schedule. if the place is being cased and they can't get a good bead on your schedule, they may just move on.

 

[buck00]

If he's a neighbor that lives in sight of your home, he dosen't need to park anywhere to case your house. He can watch it right from his.

Bingo.


The real problem here is the lack of police communication. Sounds like pretty poor professionalism of the cops to respond to a 911 call, then conclude you simply don't need to know what the guy was doing in your driveway.

I would also point out the failure of your Dad to ask the cops directly what the he-- is going on after they spoke to the neighbor. I would definitely do what the other members advised:

A) call nonemergency and ask for a recap of what happened

B) go over to the neighbor, be friendly, and ask if "everything is ok" etc, see how he responds. See if he tells you a different story than what the cops (hopefully) have on record. If he gets angry or real nervous, you may have a looney neighbor on your hands. If that is the case, you may want to consider some 12 gauge insurance for your house.

But who knows, he might say "honestly, I was on my cell phone, I just found out a family member got cancer, and I was in such shock I pulled in the first driveway I saw to finish the call." The key to this is to find out what story he told the cops.

Get back to us with an update when you can.

 

[How you gonna get down that hill]

post a diagram

post a diagram......

during thier interview....did the police ask for ID from the driver......
did the cops produce any paperwork or write anything down?....a card (FI) perhaps

how big is the department in your town? just a few or ????

 

[iamhistory]

Definitely call the cops back to find out what the heck their conversation was about...............I would think you have a right to know since you guys called and he was in your driveway.

See what they say.....then keep your awareness up to decipher if anything else happens that is important enough to either call the police again or address the issue(s) with your neighbor.

 

[pictoblu]

I would definitely contact the police and see if they would give any information.

We had experienced some unusual activities in our neighborhood a few years ago and so I bought and installed video surveillance here. Also put up signs that we are using video surveillance. Not that doing so would deter a professional, if that were the case. It's a good thing to be able to see what goes on when we have been asleep or have been gone, etc.

 

[NoPhilly]

Maybe he was using your WiFi Connection

Or one of your neighbor's connections.

I do it sometimes, and I know it must look suspicious... until people see the computer in my lap and they put 2-2 together.

 

[AJ Dual]

I know how some people feel about open WiFi connections, but unless the SSID says "FREE WI-FI!" it's still wrong.

It's no different than if your neightbors were idiots and left thier doors opened and you walked in their house uninvited.

The only legit reason to snoop other peoples Wi-Fi is if you immediately knock on thier door and explain what "unsecured" means.

 

[cgraham]

Nico, too much speculation here, and not enough facts.

But you now have a nice array of possibilities. One of them is NOT that "he had a few drinks": the cops would have almost certainly arrested him for DWI.

One question would be: was he pulled all the way into your driveway, or just tentatively off the road? I would regard somene who pulls up a driveway more than a couple of car's length as not doing so casually.

I agree with others, demand a report from the cops, but I'd go a step further: arrange to meet with one of the cops who may have picked up nuances that didn't get into the official report.

What kind of neighborhood IS this? The kind of place where you would approach a newcomer with a gift, or one where you are cautious of others? A friendly visit, a"Hi, I saw you moved in, welcome to the neighborhood" should allow a conversation that can be steered to "the incident". If you take a gift, you may be inviting more familiarity than you want. If he is not receptive to a greeting, he likely is both a neighbor and a HOOD


Hopefully it's all smoke, but don't count on it.

C

 

[jeepmor]

If he's new to the neighborhood

1. He could have a stressed wife and not relish arriving at home, particularly if he has relocated. I've met quite a few of these in my industry, personal issues are personal and none of my concern and reloacation is tough.

2. He could be hackin the WiFi. If you don't lock yours out, don't whine when other grab it. I asked my next door neighbor about his wireless and said "hey, i was playing with my work laptop and found your connection." He stated, "oh yeah, I don't have wireless, i thought I was hacking into yours....we laughed and started the lawnmowers back up. Mystery neighbor soon locked his out.

3. He's a lousy crook when it comes to casing joints.

4. You are paranoid, but reasonable. You might want to consider keeping curtains closed after dark.

My father wants my mom to get CCW for just this reason since Dad works swing shift. I encouraged it, but she still seemed iffy. She said, what would you suggest? I reached in my backpack from the weekend stay and pulled out my 45 and said, "something small like this?" She seemed a bit taken back that I pulled a gun out of my backpack being I'm the liberal black sheep of the family, but it was more of a "wow, that shattered some conceptions about my son, I kinda like it" response without anything being said.

jeepmor