Blame it on the pandemic, blame the solar winds. Hell, blame it on the chem trails, or maybe Karma finally located my forwarding address. What ever it is, it just seems to follow me at times.
Our neighborhood is a quiet one. There is an area about a mile away that is a little, shall we say, different. Working class and retirees live here in our neighborhood. Our only difference, is we live on the corner leading into our neighborhood which is the corner of two well travelled roads. Therefore, if you break down, or you’re up to mischief, this is very convenient to you.
Last night, around 8pm, the dogs in the entryway went crazy barking. I was relaxing and watching TV. They were highly agitated, and I heard a light knocking on the door. I asked through the door who it was. A male voice said he needed some help. The dogs were crowded right behind me growling. Thinking anyone up to no good would have been wary of doing anything bad after hearing such large dogs, I opened the door a little. There is a super strong security/storm door with shatterproof glass next.
There stood a black male, about 5’7″ around 30-40 years of age. Stocky with a thick jacket on, and a beanie type cap. He said his woman had put him out on the road, and he needed a ride home. I couldn’t tell if he was crazy, drunk, high, or just slow in the head. He seemed out of sorts. I told him I couldn’t give him a ride anywhere. Then he asked if he could come in and use my phone. I told him I was sorry, but no he needed to leave, or I could call 911 and get him some help. He stepped out into the yard, and I closed the door.
He returned and knocked on the door again while I was standing there. I told him he needed to leave my property, that I was calling 911 to get him a ride. He then reached out and grabbed the handle to the security door, trying to open it. I told him to step back, or the dogs would eat him. I called 911 while standing there, and he reached in his left jacket pocket. Of course, I’m that guy… My hand went to the small of my back where I carry my weapon when I answer the door.
I gripped the handle just in case he pulled out a weapon. He pulls out a damn cell phone, that is when the hair on my neck stood up. He was just possibly trying to get entry to the house through the pretense of needing a phone. I think he was just mentally loose in the head or really high on something. No criminal would try to force their way into a home with three large dogs snarling ahead of them. Plus, a wary criminal would have noticed me reaching around behind my back.
While waiting for the Police to arrive, which only took about two minutes. He looked around the porch moving a shutter there that was leaning against the wall waiting to be painted, as if looking for something he might like. Upon the arrival of the Police, they informed me that they recognized him when they pulled up, they had dealt with him before. They left with him and that ended the night of excitement. Naturally, the security cam for the porch had died a week before and not been replaced yet. So we can’t share any video of that crazy moment.
It seems nowhere is free from trouble. I just want to relax. On the bright side, it may never happen again. But who knows. I will be getting another camera up on the porch, pronto.
Comments always welcome.
Exciting events just follow you wherever you go!
Hi, Kate. It’s been that way my entire life. When I was a cop, we seemed to always drive up on robberies “in progress” more than average. This fella could have been killed if he had tried the elderly couple next door.
That was a worrying incident, and I can see why you may well have been suspicious, and afraid. I cannot imagine anything like that happening here in Beetley, though it was not that unusual when I lived on a main road in central London. I didn’t have a gun of course, but I did keep a baseball bat next to the door. And my wife knew better than to ever open the door when I wasn’t in the house.
Best wishes, Pete.
Same here, Pete. Michelle won’t answer the door when I’m not here, even if she is armed. I waited to see if he would go on, before I opened the door. He kept knocking, so rather than wait to see if he was going to use force, I thought I would defuse it a little by addressing him.
Ball bat is great, as the years have progressed, I think I would stink using a bat. A can of Wasp spray is good to have as well. My balance is not what it used to be. As a T-shirt once said
“I’m a senior. I’m too old to fight, too tired to run, That only leaves one option you won’t like.” 🙂
Good shirt! 🙂
Yikes! I agree that anyone who would still bother you in the face of dogs and a security door (and a possible weapon) has to be nuts. I hope he is able to find help but, unfortunately, he’ll probably be held for a while, then let go.
You’re exactly right, Janis. I didn’t have anything to press charges on, other than a weak “attempted trespassing” when he tried to open the security door. So I heard they gave the guy a ride home. Such is the game called Law. Unless you can charge them, you have to baby them.
Gads!!! Well I agree, probably high as a kite, and wanting more $$ to buy more stuff. Geez how scary! I can well imagine your jitters! Lucky how it ended, thank goodness for 911, and how fast they came, yay!
He certainly wasn’t thinking straight, that’s for sure. I felt strangely calm during the encounter. Adrenaline was up, but the only time I really got spooked, was when he reached in that pocket. You have only a micro second to spot the threat, and respond, and he was already in motion. The result if he had a gun, would have been really weird, since both of us were separated by bullet resistant glass. Unless he was carrying a small canon, I would be fine. Me? I was carrying a small cannon. 🙂
? I have indeed heard that in certain situations, and in the right hands, cannons can be good.
You may have had just a microsecond to see and respond BUT you had the foresight (luck?) to have bullet-resistant glass in the door. Whew, eh?
BTW, just curious, is it common for someone to carry a gun in a pocket?? I would’ve thought a pocket is kind of too small.
Ha ha, I like that, Ellie. The owners of the home really built this little bungalo well. It has solid core doors front and back. Double pane windows for insulation. The security storm doors. He said they are resistant, and costs $275 if they need replacing. That’s just the glass.
There are many very small guns that fit in the palm of your hand. .22 cal .32 cal and 380 cal
Michelle and I have 40 cal Glocks for protection. The guys smartphone was in that pocket without any indication anything was in it. So a small pistol would have fit easily. Criminals carry them in their belt under a shirt, in a pocket, or anywhere they can secret one.
Wow, those doors alone could help anyone sleep well at night!
Re the guns, thanks for this info, I never knew that any guns could be so small! (Aside from the “Saturday Night Special” I learned about via old TV shows!) More reason for us to feel a bit paranoid about pockets!
I never open the door when my husband is not at home. I’m glad you found a resolution that took care of the situation without any violence being necessary. These are crazy times.
So am I, Maggie. Today, Officers shoot first, talk later. When I was a cop, you were supposed to try to defuse things, then shoot if needed, but only as a last resort. I’m glad you never answer a door alone. I may try an intercom system just in case it ever happens again.
I am glad you were prepared but diligent and cautious.
OH wow Ron, sorry trouble finds you. Hope you don’t have many incidences like that again. .
My reply didn’t post, Sandy. You’re right, I hope that doesn’t happen again for a long time. I hope, it NEVER happens again.
Wow! At least you were mentally and physically prepared! Most of us wouldn’t be.
You’re right, Anne. I hung up my gun for 5 years when I left the police force. Then one night Michelle and I were nearly run off the road in an attempted car-jacking on a country road, by a car full of Hispanic men that followed us after we left a Walmart. Having survived that, we vowed to never be unprepared again.
Great news! Stay safe!
He sounds well known to the police which suggests mental trouble I would guess. Glad you are all right and that you didn’t need to escalate things any further. And get that porch cam fixed!
Got it fixed last night. Thanks for the comment, Elizabeth.
Whew.
Nope, hearing the snarling dogs would have sent a sane person scurrying right away. Ron – I walk in a neighborhood where I used to pass a house with a huge dog, likely a German Shepherd … I tried not to look at this dog because as soon as it saw me, it threw its body against the front window or stood on its hind legs and lunged at the window, pawing furiously. I truly thought the dog would jump through the window and all I did was walk by so yes I was scared and walk on the other side now. Cars are in the driveway so it is not as it is alone and defending its turf. We had an incident Monday night in my City. A pizza delivery guy (young man) was walking up the front walk of a house to deliver a large pop and a large pizza in the dark. He rang the doorbell and someone on the street called him, he turned around and four guys tased him, then beat him up and stole his wallet and car. He did not hand over his phone and called the police while he lay in a pool of blood in the street. He believes it was a set-up and all the surveillance video in nearby houses did not help in the least. He had to get stitches and will recover … physically anyway. The world’s inhabitants are scary and crazy.
The world has been getting crazier for decades now. In 1988 I went to the quick stop store on my motorcycle. I was a cop, but had decided I didn’t feel like putting on my gun to go 4 blocks. No cell phones then, so I stopped outside the store to call home and see if I needed to buy anything else. While on the phone, 3 guys that had been in the store, walked up and demanded money. I told them I had none, at which they told me they would just take what I had. I had gotten on my motor while talking.
I swung my helmet by the strap hard, catching the closest one to me in the side of the head. The others drew back, and I took off for home. I called for backup, grabbed my gun and went back to the store. We caught them one block over and the backup arrested all three. My helmet was located not far from the phone booth. Two were from Georgia visiting the third. The officers told them in the booking room, how unlucky they were to have tried to rob an off duty officer. I was extremely lucky, because in this day and time, one or all of them would have been armed with a gun.
I couldn’t even try to deliver pizzas in this day and time.
Wow – what a tale Ron. Lucky you had a lot of adrenalin and quick thinking from years on the job to swing that helmet and knock him on the head … evidently that knocked some sense into the others’ heads and thwarted any more action on their part.
They have arrested the four young men (late teens) who attacked this poor pizza delivery guy. They have recovered the boys’ car as well. He says he won’t return to this job. No, the pizza delivery job would be so unsafe now. No wonder the robot food deliveries are such a hit on some college campuses now.
I’m glad they caught the boys. It’s a shame the world has gotten this way. I can’t believe people trust Uber drivers. Of course Uber has all but put taxis out of business in many places.