Suspicious neighbors

---

So I got home from work this afternoon and the kid that lives a couple of doors down knocked on my door. Kid: I just wanted to let you know that I heard today that someone was gonna break into your house?Damien: What?!?Kid: I work at Wal-Mart and I heard somebody there say it. My roommate, Summer (who doesn't work at Wal-Mart) heard it to.Damien: Who was it?Kid: I don't know. It was some customer. They said it was on ______ Lane and it was the Doctor's place.Damien: I'm not a doctor.Kid: You're not?!? I thought you were.Damien: Nope, I'm not.Kid: Oh...(Landlady) said she thought you were a doctor.So...this is the kid who, a couple of times before, has knocked on my door to let me know there was tornado/storm warnings or whatever. Both times he looked around my living room, and one time he said "Nice TV". I was already suspicious. Then he supposedly hears this thing at work and Summer hears it somewhere else. And neither of them bother to notify the Cops. Then he says that the person referred to me as "the doctor" when apparently he's the only one who thinks I'm a doctor.So I'm a bit nervous. I called the sheriff and notified them. They are helpful. Gonna patrol. Might run some plate numbers. My dad's gonna drive by a few times while I'm at work. I wrote down model # and serial # for anything of value, and took pictures and put them on a jump drive which will stay in my office.Anyway...I hope I can sleep tonight. I'm worried, stressed, pissed off... Have any of you ever experienced this kind of thing, where you kind of had a heads up that someone could be breaking into your joint?

nothing quite so suspicious as that. I did live in a little coach house behind a big old house that was converted into a wlfare rooming house. Some nice guys, a lot a shady charactes. Nothing too bad ever happened but I was always slightly on edge.let us know if anything happens or, hopefully, nothing

my Apartment in Jerusalem was right next to a few people who broke into the apartment next to mine, and the cops gave me some tips on how to make sure itdoesnt happen, making sure the locks are good, an alarm system, shatter on contact bullets, that kinda stuff. He also suggested that if i thought it was going to happen in the imminent future, keep a little camera type thing pointed at an area in the hous where they would have to go/be seen by it.

Once when I moved house, a bloke stood by the van and watched everything going in. Fortunately there was nothing in there of any resale value whatever, so I let him look. (I had moved the small amount of stuff that might have been sellable separately.)

I don't know....if he was the one that is going to rob you, why would he let you know? Surely he would think you would call the police and be extra cautious yourself.Anyway, get a dog. Someone broke into our old house, but nothing was missing. I think our dog scared them away.

Originally Posted By: DxLISHxISx_43Anyway, get a dog. Someone broke into our old house, but nothing was missing. I think our dog scared them away. Even better than that, two dogs...big ones. A lot of thieves figure they can deal with one dog, but most won't even try anything if there's two.

I don’t know why some one thinking about breaking into your house would tell you some one is talking about breaking into it. I’d think they wouldn’t want to ……but I dk.. Never know with thefts. Maybe it’s mind games? When we first moved into this house after Katrina the girl that lives across from us always watched me and borrowed so much stuff… the weird thing was she never barrowed anything when some one else was able to get it ti was always when I had to get it. So she always came over when I was alone.. They were out riding and stuff. It was creepy. She Don’t do that anymore tho since were friends. She does come over a lot tho still.

"I don’t know why some one thinking about breaking into your house would tell you some one is talking about breaking into it. I’d think they wouldn't’t want to ……but I dk.. Never know with thefts. Maybe it’s mind games?"I don't get that either. All the thieves I've ever hung around, which are more than you might think, are lazy opportunists. They generally don't go to the trouble of playing games, or telling you anything, or think much about what they're doing. They just see a place that looks like it has something easy to get into about it, a fence or hedge in the right spot - what have you, and that's there deciding factor to break in. If they're not pro's they're just lazy dicks usually looking for anything to steal and sale so they can get a fix... pro's don't mess with just any house.Not to be alarmist but I would be very cautious of these people. Just as much when your home, as when your not. Don't let your personal safety be lacks. Shit can be replaced.Of course there are some strange fuckin' people out there who mean no harm, like my, thank god, EX-neighbor. She was just fuckin' weird.

hon, maybe she had a crush on you

The idea is that when you are broken in, the fact that he warned you is supposed to make you think positively of him as a friend, rather than realising that he knew that you would be broken in because he did it himself.In practice, calling the police and being extra cautious doesn't do much. Those extra patrols the police say they'll make probably don't happen, and what difference does it make if a police car drives by once or twice during the night? Also, by warning you, the thief gets an opportunity to hear about any burglar alarms or other anti-burglar precautions that you have.

who don't? don't answer that. i'm being.....

Damien, it sounds like maybe borrowing a dog would be a good thing!

I actually - surprisingly - slept well last night.
I'm pretty certain that the county cops did at least a couple drive bys last night and today because \#1) what else do they have to do? \#2) both of my brothers work with county law enforcement here, so it's kind of a favor.
That being said, I have been thinking about this today and have started to think that Caleb and Lish are correct. I'm giving more and more credence to the possibility that the kids was blowing me a line of bull, for whatever reason...bored, high, wants to be friends...whatever. I think you're right. I don't think he would be stupid enough to tip me off.
Nonetheless, I'm still taking precautions. I'm probably gonna hang here all weekend (without the steak and bj). If I go anywhere, I'll be able to make it look like I'm still here. I also went to the insurance agent today to check on renter's insurance only to find I already had the policy and forgot about it!

Opinion about what exactly?

I was feeling pretty good about it all last night. Then this morning there's a knock on my door. It's the girl. Summer. She's all friendly and bubbly and asks me if I have a computer. I say yes I do. (Yes...I know, I know.) Then she asks if I have internet and I say no. I'm not gonna let her come in to my joint and use my computer. So she tells me she needed to check her work email to see if she needed to go into work early. Yeah. So then she asks me if her friend, David, talked to me. I said yeah. Then she starts telling me that the person of suspicion is a person who visits a resident in the other building. Even tells me his name and what he drives.

Then, about 2 minutes after she left I realized what a bonehead move I just made. She asked if I had a computer and I said yes.

So I started getting nervous again. Feeling like I can't leave my apartment. Like I'm a prisoner in my own home. But then I though, screw it. I'm not doing this. I'm gonna get out tonight. I've got renters insurance. My cameras are hidden well and my laptop will be with me. If they wanna break in, fine. They go to jail and I get new stuff!

I thought that's what you were referring to, just wasn't sure. I guess I never thought of getting that kind of info from an insurance agent. Makes sense though.I do have photos of all my valuables stored on a jump drive at work, along with a list of model#'s and serial #'s.

Originally Posted By: IneligibleThe idea is that when you are broken in, the fact that he warned you is supposed to make you think positively of him as a friend, rather than realising that he knew that you would be broken in because he did it himself.Of all the petty thieves I've known, I've never ran across one to actually put that much thought into anything. It certainly could be the case but I've never run across anybody like that. I know it's counterintuitive but if they're stupid enough to break in they're generally not stupid enough to say shit like that. Maybe this dumb ass is just the exception that proves the rule.

Ill tell you somethign you can do, make shit much easier on you if indeed anyone does break in.go buy a fucking UV pen, write your name and number and email on everything!cops dont always look into model and serial unless they can pin it down to a certain house being hit. They do however when finding stolen goods hit it with a uv light while doing an exam. and should that shit turn up on the street instead of a evidence room with a 5 dollar UV light you will know if its yours or not.Get a good marker, not a wash the fuck off one. mark it near the model number on the back or bottom even when they clean shit and wipe for prints before fencing it no one thinks to scrub off the shit near there since they dont touch it there to steal it.and remember this advice comes from a retired criminal who at one point several years ago made a living by stealing cars and robbing homes.You can also hit nearly any dollar store and buy some alarms that mount to windows and doors with double sided tape. THey are loud as shit, install in seconds and if an alarm goes off you dont bother trying to find out if its some battery operated piece of shit or a pro install, you just get the fuck out of town.

me either and I speak form experience.the way a pro does it is to wait till your at home, around dinner time, watch the house for a few days.always make certain its a 2 story and that the family is at the table eating dinner.break in to the master bedroom, alarm systems are not generally on during dinner when everyone is home. 1 minute sweep of drawers, dresser top and night stands and under the bed. In and out in less than 60 seconds entering from the blind side of the house away from where anyone who may leave the dining room can see you.I should write a book on fucking home protection, I was good at what i did before I retired when I turned 18. the same shit i used then still works today and with a bit of planning you can lessen your chances of being hit.Should write on on cars as well, I can open any fucking car with out power locks in seconds with nothing but a tennis ball and leave no prints and no way to see its been hit till your inside and see your shit is gone, or that your entire car is gone.Its simply faster and easier to steal a car than to steal the stereo or radar detector or cds in it.

Chance, you're a genius!
Okay, not really, but right now a friendly ex-criminal is better than a genius, no?
Where can a fella find a UV pen? That's a great idea. I also plan on checking on those alarms.

As for your "dinnertime" scenario, it's not really an issue here. Other than a bathroom and the little washer/dryer closet, the downstairs is one big room. So if I'm at home, I'll see them come in.

I'm beginning to think Scotty might be right about these guys. I don't know what their motivation is, but I'm less and less convinced they are setting something up themselves.

I wouldnt of bothered you then when I waa full time criminal, I went for big items cash and jewlery shit thats hard to trace and easy to fence.
Im not sure where you can buy the pens, I got mine off of an internet site. I was looking for UV lights to take camping and show my kids some shit under new lights, not to mention Im paranoid as fuck about germs with the obsessive compulsive shit I have. I have a big plug in light at home I got at walmart, the small battery one I take camping and look for scorpions inteh dark, and use it to test qurtz and diamonds. diamonds to make certain of quality before I buy, the quartz when I do some gold panning and ghost towning.

I jsut found a million of the UV pens, search under uv pen at amazon, or black lights and hundreds of sites show up listing both, some as a kit.