first time posting something of my own experiences here (honestly i didn't think i ever would need to), but something really kinda rattled me last night.
a little background -- we live out in the country, or what used to be the country anyway before the "progress" of sprawl and development brought a lot more houses and people and stores to the area. our neighborhood is relatively small, and consists of lots of 2+ acres. it's all pretty heavily wooded and driveways are long... and dark (our driveway is maybe 200-250ft or so). from the street, you can't really see the house so it's great for privacy. we have one neighbor on one side who can see the side of our house, the side with the garage and driveway, etc. we also have a big yard light about 1/2 way down the driveway which gives enough light to see, but is not blindingly bright. whenever anyone drives up the driveway at night, their headlights splash through the windows onto the back wall of the den -- if you're in the den it's easy to know when someone comes.
it's been really nice weather lately, and for the first time in months it's been cool enough to open the windows for fresh air in the evenings. i had a couple windows (on the back-side of the house) open and i was sitting in my den watching tv at around 10pm. since i was enjoying the fresh air with the windows open, and since i'd been sitting there for quite a while, i had not yet set the alarm system. perhaps 3-4 times i heard some sort of noise from the front of the house which got my attention, but didn't really alarm me. we have a lot of animals and insects around, and the occassional "ding" on a window from a big bug, or a bump or scratching noise from a squirrel, raccoon, or deer is common. i'm not exactly sure what it is that i heard, just that i recall "something" getting my attention and i'd briefly mute the tv and look toward the front side of the house. in my brief glances, i didn't notice anything. needless to say, i didn't think much about it and i was just enjoying the fresh air and relaxing in front of the tv.
my phone rang and it was my neighbor next door telling me that she had gone outside to walk her dog and saw a pickup truck in my driveway, near the house. since it was there when she went outside, it's unclear how long it had been there. she thought that it was probably a visitor and thought nothing of it. it then slowly backed out of the driveway, with lights off. once out of the driveway it turned its lights on, drove a bit down the road and then turned into someone else's driveway. she says it then drove partially down that driveway (lights on), stopped, and backed up. at this point she thought something was definitely odd and started rounding up he dog to get back in her house. the truck then turned into her driveway and went up part of the way, and then backed up and drove away. this is very weird behavior.
after she told me the story, i closed all the windows and set the alarm, just in case (never know if the truck dropped someone off who was still outside, for instance), and got the shotgun. my neighbor called the sheriff dispatch (not 911, just dispatch since it wasn't clear if there was an emergency), who then sent out a car to drive around and check the neighborhood -- about 20 minutes later we noticed a patrol car drive by, not really looking down driveways just doing normal speed... he drove by once and left. didn't seem too thorough to me, anyway.
so that's kinda the story. a few points which worry me:
1) it seems very odd that after he was seen at my place he went and turned into two other driveways before finally driving away. in one sense, it sounded to me like it COULD possibly look like he was lost and trying to find a specific house. but that wouldn't make any sense with the fact that he had his lights off in my driveway (and apparently drove into my driveway with his lights off). it sounded to me like he saw he was noticed and went down the other driveways to make it seem like he was lost -- leaving right away might have looked even more suspicious? also, it's unclear how long he was indeed there. if i knew for sure he drove down, stopped, and backed up i might not be too concerned. but for all i know he was there for a half hour or more (about the first time i heard a noise out front).
2) this area has been really quiet and safe for years -- i always hear stories on the news of other areas with crime around, and i know at any time it could happen anywhere, so i always try to be alert, but when i heard some noises which might have tipped me off i dismissed them as the normal "bump in the night" kinda thing.
3) and perhaps most worrying of all, is that i was sitting there the whole time and had no clue at all that someone was in my driveway, and very well could have been out walking around the house and doing who knows what else. in fact, i wouldn't have known anything had my neighbor not been alert enough to call me and sound the alarm.
i know there are driveway alarms which alert you when a car drives down -- up until now i never thought about getting one here, but that is a real serious consideration now. it also might be a good idea to get more lights outside... but i don't want to light it up like a christmas tree because part of what we like here is living in the woods, with the relative darkness.
any other ideas what this could have been? any ideas for steps to take now?
a little background -- we live out in the country, or what used to be the country anyway before the "progress" of sprawl and development brought a lot more houses and people and stores to the area. our neighborhood is relatively small, and consists of lots of 2+ acres. it's all pretty heavily wooded and driveways are long... and dark (our driveway is maybe 200-250ft or so). from the street, you can't really see the house so it's great for privacy. we have one neighbor on one side who can see the side of our house, the side with the garage and driveway, etc. we also have a big yard light about 1/2 way down the driveway which gives enough light to see, but is not blindingly bright. whenever anyone drives up the driveway at night, their headlights splash through the windows onto the back wall of the den -- if you're in the den it's easy to know when someone comes.
it's been really nice weather lately, and for the first time in months it's been cool enough to open the windows for fresh air in the evenings. i had a couple windows (on the back-side of the house) open and i was sitting in my den watching tv at around 10pm. since i was enjoying the fresh air with the windows open, and since i'd been sitting there for quite a while, i had not yet set the alarm system. perhaps 3-4 times i heard some sort of noise from the front of the house which got my attention, but didn't really alarm me. we have a lot of animals and insects around, and the occassional "ding" on a window from a big bug, or a bump or scratching noise from a squirrel, raccoon, or deer is common. i'm not exactly sure what it is that i heard, just that i recall "something" getting my attention and i'd briefly mute the tv and look toward the front side of the house. in my brief glances, i didn't notice anything. needless to say, i didn't think much about it and i was just enjoying the fresh air and relaxing in front of the tv.
my phone rang and it was my neighbor next door telling me that she had gone outside to walk her dog and saw a pickup truck in my driveway, near the house. since it was there when she went outside, it's unclear how long it had been there. she thought that it was probably a visitor and thought nothing of it. it then slowly backed out of the driveway, with lights off. once out of the driveway it turned its lights on, drove a bit down the road and then turned into someone else's driveway. she says it then drove partially down that driveway (lights on), stopped, and backed up. at this point she thought something was definitely odd and started rounding up he dog to get back in her house. the truck then turned into her driveway and went up part of the way, and then backed up and drove away. this is very weird behavior.
after she told me the story, i closed all the windows and set the alarm, just in case (never know if the truck dropped someone off who was still outside, for instance), and got the shotgun. my neighbor called the sheriff dispatch (not 911, just dispatch since it wasn't clear if there was an emergency), who then sent out a car to drive around and check the neighborhood -- about 20 minutes later we noticed a patrol car drive by, not really looking down driveways just doing normal speed... he drove by once and left. didn't seem too thorough to me, anyway.
so that's kinda the story. a few points which worry me:
1) it seems very odd that after he was seen at my place he went and turned into two other driveways before finally driving away. in one sense, it sounded to me like it COULD possibly look like he was lost and trying to find a specific house. but that wouldn't make any sense with the fact that he had his lights off in my driveway (and apparently drove into my driveway with his lights off). it sounded to me like he saw he was noticed and went down the other driveways to make it seem like he was lost -- leaving right away might have looked even more suspicious? also, it's unclear how long he was indeed there. if i knew for sure he drove down, stopped, and backed up i might not be too concerned. but for all i know he was there for a half hour or more (about the first time i heard a noise out front).
2) this area has been really quiet and safe for years -- i always hear stories on the news of other areas with crime around, and i know at any time it could happen anywhere, so i always try to be alert, but when i heard some noises which might have tipped me off i dismissed them as the normal "bump in the night" kinda thing.
3) and perhaps most worrying of all, is that i was sitting there the whole time and had no clue at all that someone was in my driveway, and very well could have been out walking around the house and doing who knows what else. in fact, i wouldn't have known anything had my neighbor not been alert enough to call me and sound the alarm.
i know there are driveway alarms which alert you when a car drives down -- up until now i never thought about getting one here, but that is a real serious consideration now. it also might be a good idea to get more lights outside... but i don't want to light it up like a christmas tree because part of what we like here is living in the woods, with the relative darkness.
any other ideas what this could have been? any ideas for steps to take now?
although it seems to be one of the single best bad guy detection systems, at this point in time anyway dogs are kinda out. that stance may change, however, if things start to head south with the threat of bad guys in the area. 