Weird knock on the door this morning.

[IronMonster]

I got up pretty early this morning for a Sunday (a little before 6AM) and as I was sitting here playing on Facebook and drinking coffee and someone knocks on my door. I go out and answer it and its a 20-ish year old guy and he asks me to give him a ride to work in Bellevue, which is an easy hour round trip drive. I tell him no, I have things to do today. He then asks if there is any work he can do around my house. I tell him no, sorry, and close the door. Of course then I start to think what was this really? I doubt very seriously this guy was looking for a ride or something to do. Who in their right mind knocks on some strangers door at 6:30 AM on a Sunday and asks for a ride 30 miles away? He did not seem loaded or anything. I have the feeling that if he would not have met with a 6 foot tall 230 lb tattoo'd guy but rather my 100 pound 5 foot nothing wife that things might have went far different. Weird. Now I am a bit freaked out and worried. Hopefully what ever the plan was I derailed it and they are not coming back while my wife is home alone.

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[etrain16]

Wow, yeah, that's very strange. I would have been on alert for a knock on the door that early in the morning. I agree with you, he very likely had something odd going down. Might even be worth a call to the cops non-emergency number to report a suspicious person. They may want to cruise the area and check him out.

Did you have a gun on you (maybe behind your back, in a holster or easy to grab off to the side) or maybe some pepper spray?

 

[Classic]

He was looking to break into your house, this is a typical MO. He probably had a backpack on.
I open my front door to strangers with a Colt 1911 in my hand at my side. I want to make sure those idiots don't come back

 

[brokenarrow]

Very suspicious. Good thing it was you and not your wife who answered. I would report it.

 

[IronMonster]

I have a Glock 22 within arms reach of the front door and several others downstairs where I can get at them quick. I hesitated before I opened the door and decided by the look of the guy I did not need a gun in my hand but was ready to grab the one by the door if need be. I probably should have had it in my hand when I opened the door in hindsight.

 

[notazombie]

Odd for sure , and certainly suspicious. I wonder how it would have gone had you agreed to give him a ride followed by, "Just let me grab my shovel".

 

[Velzey]

Very odd for sure! And this is a guy you have not seen around before?

 

[IronMonster]

Nope, never seen the guy.

 

[IheartSig]

This happened to me one night. It was around midnight, I was up playing video games downstairs in my office which faces towards my back yard. I happened to have been paused reading an article on the net and I heard a soft knock. At first I thought I was hearing things, but it happened again. All the lights in the front of the house were off so there was no way someone thought we were up.

The first thought I had was "Why such a soft knock?" It occurred to me later this was likely to see if there were dogs or if someone was awake enough to hear it.

I grabbed one of my handguns and stepped into the living room the porch light was on and the internal lights were off so I could see the shape of someone in the stained glass windows in the door. What was really creepy was as I was moving towards the door, they did that whole thing where they cup their hands and try to see into the window like an inch from it?

I figured right then that at midnight, anyone out there was not someone I wanted out there. I backed up and went out the back slider and around the side of the house. I went through the gate as quiet as I could and down the side of the house. My lab was out in the back and as friendly as he is, he hates strangers. I didn't have time to get a leash or anything but he's a pretty obedient dog I let him come with me.

We rounded the corner of the house and the dude is still on the porch just standing there. Young looking guy, early 20's Before I could even say anything my Lab goes all apebubblegum and starts barking his bass bark and growl walking towards the guy.

All I had time to say was "you better move" and he ran faster than I could imagine down the street with the Lab in pursuit. I walked into the street and called 911 yelling for my dog to come back, he finally did about 10 minutes later. I was stressed out at the moment because I thought maybe I had just scared / unleashed the hounds on a regular person, I was hoping he didn't bite the guy and I would get sued.

The Sherriff showed up about a half hour after that and said they would have been there sooner but the lady at the end of the street had called 911 because there was a commotion in her back yard and a dog barking on the side of her house. She didn't own a dog.

They ended up catching the guy he had jumped a fence and ran into her yard to get away from Luke, my lab and Luke had given up and walked home but the guy was still there evidently because they brought the guy in the back of their squad car.

He said he was "looking for a girl he used to know". I've lived there for almost 6 years at that point. mmmhhmmm...

 

[jbett98]

A month ago, around 2:00 pm in the afternoon, two young guys show up, one hanging back by their car and the other one knocking on my door.
I recently bought a 4 post car lift for my shop and had my work van lifted up for an oil change and the shop door shut. My wife was off shopping, so no cars in the driveway.
I immediately give the guy knocking the "What do you want" gruff look and voice, as I know they are up to no good.
"Hey man, were here to clean your backyard pool, and in exchange we want to practice skateboarding up & down the sides".
"Why would you think that I have an in the ground pool?"
"Our boss Googled earthed it, and sent us out here to see about you letting us clean it so we can practice our skateboard tricks."
I told him that he had ten seconds to get off my property as I was calling the cops on them for suspicion of criminal intent and trespassing.
After he hustled off and I had written down their license #, I thought about the house two blocks down the street that does have an old empty swimming pool in their backyard.
So thieves are Google mapping their intended victims now.

 

[Joe13]

You will never see him again. Nice to be a big guy with tatts eh?

This is the exact reason I answer the door during "off" hours and not my wife.

Glad your safe brother

 

[Mark W.]

This is exactly why I am totally enclosing my porch. By the new year I will have a steel security type screen door in a steel frame on the porch at the top of the single stair. And then a 6' wide "Free Fire Zone" before my front door which is also in a reinforced frame and has a cut glass type large center window (with a 3/8" layer of Lexan on both sides) the windows in the porch will be Lexan (50 times as hard to break as glass) and 4ft off the ground.

If someone gets past the screen door they are technically inside my house the 6 x 24 porch since its totally enclosed become part of the houses living space. They then have to get past the front door before they can touch us. Giving us plenty enough time to decide what to change their mind with LOL.

 

[IheartSig]

I've been toying with the idea of re doing my porch as well just like you are talking about Mark, I also wouldn't mind putting up security bars on all my windows but my wife sais we will look stupid as no one else has them. I told her we wont look stupid when the neighbors get robbed and we don't. Im still working on it. I may have to buy her some jewelry to make the deal, but its worth it to me.

This is exactly why I am totally enclosing my porch. By the new year I will have a steel security type screen door in a steel frame on the porch at the top of the single stair. And then a 6' wide "Free Fire Zone" before my front door which is also in a reinforced frame and has a cut glass type large center window (with a 3/8" layer of Lexan on both sides) the windows in the porch will be Lexan (50 times as hard to break as glass) and 4ft off the ground.

If someone gets past the screen door they are technically inside my house the 6 x 24 porch since its totally enclosed become part of the houses living space. They then have to get past the front door before they can touch us. Giving us plenty enough time to decide what to change their mind with LOL.

 

[Mark W.]

We upgraded all our downstairs windows to the style that has the metal grid in between the layers of glass. Not true security bars but they do make it much more difficult to get through the window and as we all know criminals are typically pretty lazy and want an easy score. Plus it cut down on the amount of pellets I have to burn each year!.

 

[Stomper]

Some of the comments in this thread are awesomely funny!! (Get my shovel, Luke the attack dawg, time to choose what to change their minds with..... LMAO!)

I NEVER answer the door (in the dark) without the porch light on, room light off, and my G30 in my right rear pocket with my hand on the grip.

One Wednesday evening at 10:30 there's a knock on our door. First of all, during the work week you don't call phones and/or knock on peoples' doors after 9-pm unless it's an emergency, that's just good manners. So I go through the whole security "rigamarole" I just spelled out and answer the door, and it's one of my daughter's friends.

I stare down at her (with an arched eyebrow, and clearly annoyed) for a moment then say, "yes?" She replies, "I hope it's not too late", I cut her off in mid-sentence with, "it is". That threw her off her speil a bit, (was kinda funny to watch the pained expression on her face)... stupid twit was just returning some article of clothing she borrowed. Some people's kids... I tell ya!

 

[IheartSig]

They say a mans home is his castle, I agree and would go the extra step and say it is my fortress of solitude. I get instantly irritated when people knock on my door unexpected. My neighborhood has a real problem with the door to door "salesmen" , Rug cleaners, yard "companies" (Oh sweet you run a landscaping business out of your Honda accord?" ) Vacuum salesmen, Jehovah witness, you name it. I had to put up "NO SOLICITING" signs in 3 separate locations. They STILL come knocking. I always point out the signs, they always say "oh sorry, didn't see it" to which I reply "You see it now though right?" and just stare at them until the leave.

The only strangers I want knocking at my door are girl scouts selling cookies, local school kids raising money for sports, trips etc with documentation and possibly the Publishers Clearing house with a big cardboard check.

Other than that, STAY OFF MY LAWN!

 

[Medic!]

Can I chew on this one Dad!

 

[Medic!]

Above my dogs head. Taped to the window I also have a 8-1/2''x11'' sign.
If people come to the door. I stand at the window next to the door and point at the sign.

If they make me open the door. I tell them to learn to read. And to hit the road!

The sign reads:

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Monster, you should call the cops, even now! He may have done something very bad to someone already! The local LEO's have told me, in a somewhat similar situation, that they would rather come out for nothing than never get the info at all!

PS: I'm glad that you and your wife are okay!

 

[Mark W.]

I'm so unfriendly my back door doesn't even have a knob on it. When closed it can't be opened from outside. And since it opens out be a good job to open it out. On the inside I have 4 HD barrel locks protected by a steel reinforced jam and blast deflector plates. It also enters into a Free Fire Zone as it accesses a Laundry and storage room that has a locked door to the main house. I believe in compartmentalization as a defense strategy must be from my time in the Navy.