Posted: 4/25/2008 10:54:47 AM EDT
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Was a matter of time as the nieghboorhood started looking worse and worse I guess... Just got done talking with Metro and the landlord about what to do next so I'll go ahead and post this up for you guys and gals. Earlier at about 10am I had someone ring my doorbell. I work swing and our landlord always calls to make sure we're home before dropping by, so I figured it was a door to door salesman. We've had a few in the last few months. So they ring the bell about 4 or 5 times and I'm thinking, what the fuck.. Who rings that many times, I start to get up and get my gun thinking "well if they are going to break in I'll hear it.." *CRASH* The asshole kicks in my door. I hop the rest of the way up and open my door. My room mate does the same and the sound was enough to scare the piece of shit off. We go down stairs and look and there is noone in sight. Whoever was etheir hid in someone elses yard or their own house. AFAIK they were on foot. We both suspect a nieghbor who looks really shady, but that is pretty much pure speculation. Anyways, I'm pretty sure the previous door to door "magazine salesmen" were etheir this dude or someone else looking to do the same as he did. Really surprises me someone would kick-in the front door on a corner house in a gated community in the middle of the afternoon... I'm glad I had a gun. |
True but merely carrying a firearm can give people a false sense of security also. You know, the people with their head up their ass but they feel safe because they have the gun. They think they will come out on top no matter what. |
I ask myself that after every "close call" I have. What you think you would do and what you actually do are sometimes opposite ends of the spectrum. Reviewing your reaction is the best way to handling a future confrontation effectively. Glad to hear no lead was exchanged (my politically and socially correct response). 
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Yeah, that's a good parallel I guess. Anyway, to the OP, good thing you were ready to rumble. Too bad that miscreant didn't stick around for their reward. |
Right: -I got my gun when I realised how odd someone ringing the doorbell 5 times in the middle of the day without calling was. The break-in occured literally 5-6 seconds after I found my gun. -I waited for my roomate to come out of his room before proceeding downstairs. We were both armed. -We cleared the area around the door (possible places to duck into inside the home) before proceeding out front to see if anyone was running away down the street. -I took a good look around the nieghboorhood and one of the streets to see if anyone was on foot. I had something to write on to make notes. Wrong: -My gun wasn't where I normally leave it. It took an extra 30 seconds to remember I had moved it and find it. First time in a long time I've put it somewhere else, glad I remembered quick and before I even knew I'd need it. -I made way too much noise coming out of my room. Had I been quieter I might have gotten a glipse of the dude so at least I know what they look like. Could have been a deterrent for a repeat-- which currently there isn't one. -I didn't get up and ready completely when I realised how fucking off the situation was. I should have given how I knew something was off. -I didn't have a spare mag. I tend to leave mine the in car. Had I needed one it wouldn't have been readily accessable. What I'm definetely going to start doing is watching who comes to my door and when. I had a kid a while back come to my door that flagged as "weird" when he rung three times (very similar) and didn't seem all that interesting in selling whatever the hell he was. I should have watched where he went after walking away, I will be doing that now. Notes are going to get made as well. I've also heard of camera systems that take a picture based on a movement sensor and send an email with the picture when they take them. Going to etheir build or buy a setup to do this at my front and back door. I think whoever did this has been casing this place for a while. The thing about a "gated" community is people tend to let their young kids out to play more. Right now, a few houses down there are some kids from it (about 7 or 8 years old) playing. Personally, I'd be wary of doing something as overt as this dude pulled when there is a possibility people are out and about like that. But yes, I think alot of these criminals probably look for these neighborhoods. Alot of nice things in peoples houses who typically hold steady employment (predictable times to break in at). But to be honest, this whole thing screams "wanna be thug kid." We're almost sure given the way the plate for the latch was still in the door (minimal damage to the latch) and the deadbolt had been destroyed he had a friend to hold the door latch down while he gave it a good kick. They may have not even intended to steal anything right then. Just bust the door, run and watch from a plausable place. Then if noone responds, come back in a bit with some friends and a vehicle to rob the place. |
You can have one of these things to slow/stop forcible entry: www.smarthome.com/79916.html Also, your perceived success/failure in your actions depends on what your goals are. If your goal was to protect your life, you did just fine. If your goal was to catch a bad guy, EPIC FAIL! 
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You can try using a wildlife/game camera. You can mount it somewhere discrete and it will take pics based on motion. Some will send to email and some have IR flash so a flash at night won't give away the camera. Lot's of options. Check Bass Pro Shops online and take a look. eta cameras |
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LVMike, I am sorry for your trouble, but must agree that your wierd neighbor sounds awfully good for this because of the disappearing act. The odds are that the idiot felon to be will try again as he knows you have what he wants. He also knows that you have to go to work sooner or later. The camera should become a priority item for you and the room mate. Hope the prick doesn't play guitar. Best regards, D PS: Tea and Hollowpoints... ( ) That Animus is a sick puppy!
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Someone attempted to break into my neighbors house by kicking the side door entrance to his garage about 10 days ago at around 3 PM. They managed to bust up the door frame and set off his alarm. On Wednesday, his house got hit again through the same door. This time, the alarm sensor for the door wasn't on since it was triggering with the wind and the door hadn't been replaced yet. They managed to kick it in again. They then kicked in the lower half of his door to the house (the fire-door, no less) and ripped out his wireless alarm system brain without the alarm going off. All this happened before 2PM. They made off with jewelry and a small TV and left everything else trashed in the house including a nice 42" plasma TV. I live in a gated community south of Aliante and we are aware of the false sense of security that it brings. I was just surprised that they didn't try my house since my side entrance door is facing his and I don't have the alarm company advertisement in front of my house like my neighbor. |
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Is it that there are more of these types of incidents per capita, or is it that they are being reported more often? I can't answer that, because I don't have the data....any else have any insight? I know we're growing at an enormous rate and Metro can't seem to hire enough LEOs to keep pace. Either way, it seems that these home invasion type burglaries (aggressive, kicking doors in types as opposed to sneaking in quietly) are the hip new thing to do. Maybe if more homeowners fight back successfully, they will lose their appeal...  Glad you were not hurt Mike. Is the landlord going to beef up the door and frame he installs in addition to your camera plans? |
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This type of Burglary is definitely on the rise. Most attempts are deterred just by the scrotes realizing someone is home. Burglars are generally wimps and will flee at the thought of a resident catching them, especially an armed Citizen. Anytime the doorbell rings unexpectedly, after arming up, I yell my best Mr Robinson imitation (Eddie Murphy): "WHATCHU WANT?!" It freaks my bug guy out. |
ON A GLASS DOOR! BAHAHAHA |
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Yes. He came back and rebuilt the door frame using 3"-4" wood screws instead of a tiny 1" ones like what held on the shear plate for the dead bolt. I might have gotten a look at the guy that night though. After I went outside to look for anyone running away from the scene I noticed a shopping cart with typical homless person stuff in it-- trash, plastic bags, and some clothes. One other possibility I figured was it wasn't the nieghbor but a homeless person wandering through that made a snap decision to try my place. Fits, since I'm a corner house... Anyways, I go and grab some food up the street and on the way back at about 8pm I see a dude walk past the cart and grab the clothes out of it and stuff them into a bag. He did it really low-key and that made me more suspicious. I called Metro non-emergency and followed him around (blatently, I wanted to make him paranoid so he wouldn't try my house again) while I gave a description to them. They said they would send a patrol car out to take a look. After he seemed to circle the entire place, he cut through a small park in our place and ditched his bag. Then I found him again just before loosing him somewhere near the house of the nieghbor I was suspecting... Etheir way, I got a look at he dude. White, 40-45 years of age, balding grey hair, about 6'1". Kind of ambigous, but at least it's something to go off of.
I'd love to have a dog. Espically one like that! But landlord says no pets. Maybe in the next month or two in the new place it'll be possible. Kind of a 3-way tie between a German Rot, GSD, or maybe a Shar-Pei (not nearly as good of a gaurd dog as the others, but my parents have two and they are great). |
Shar-Pei's can be one mean package.This taken from wiki and it pretty much sums up the breed
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There appears to be 2 types of Shar Peis, that i've seen, the little wrinkly useless ones and the ones that have the classic wrinkle heads but pitt bull bodies Llaso Apsos were traditional Tibetan alert dogs, so that could serve some some purpose...usually under 15 lbs. |
I want something that can still bite, for when I'm not at home.  Shar Peis are nice because you can usually own one and your nieghbors will never know, because as a breed they rarely bark. I went with my parents when they bought both of theirs and the dogs parents were a big factor in which type of the two (aggressive or passive) you'll get. They went with a more passive set of parents because of the grand kids but both the male and female they bought are still good guard dogs. |
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I'm sure I've posted this before, but it bears repeating... this is THE most common M/O in residential burglaries if they ring and nobody answers, kick the front door in broad daylight, if somebody answers: "Hey, is Jermaine home? oh, sorry... wrong house" I ALWAYS answer my door with a gun, especially if I get a ring and don't expect anybody coming. The UPS guys expect this by now 
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While on the topic of break ins: Fox did a story last night on those infamous "Bump Keys". The prerecorded story showed how easy it is to get into a house with these keys. The live take on the "break in" was painful and funny to watch. Anybody see it? They mentioned a type of doorlock that is "bump key" proof. |
| Yeah, this is scary stuff. Remember my story a couple of months ago with the southwest gas guy? Since then I've added a bigass dog (he's a lab and barks like a mofo), more training for the family, and I carry everywhere (EVERYWHERE). The shit is gettin' crazy out there... |
Bump Keys to Get a Criminal "IN" the House...  And...  And...  And...  Bump Keys to Get a Criminal "OUT" of the House...  And...  And...  And...  And...  And...  And Finally... (Drum Roll Please.........) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  |
The two most common types that are bump proof and very difficult to pick are medeco and Miwa (I believe ). Medecor locks are cut at angles in addition to the usual key cutting method. The Miwa type (I can't find my key to verify the name) uses magnets imbedded in the key to work the lock. |
I'm reminiscing,just keep it out side on the perimiter(Front Door?) they do have a definite Kill Zone the Interior of the Home Place need not be Soiled with the Scatter of a Perp. Thats a nice pic. BTW |
There's a Schlage lockset that's better than the Medeco ones for preventing bumpkeyability. The keys look funny as hell but that's part of the way they prevent that type of attack. |
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Many of cases that i've seen use a size 10 Nike rather than a bump key. They've seen it in the movies, and it works. Once the door is open, they just close it, and go about their bid'ness. Others will jump the fence, and enter thru the rear doors.Some open garage doors, and drive a car right in and close the door behind them, to carry MO' stuff. I wouldn't sweat the 'bump keys' too much, Joe hit it on the head---there are far easier ways to enter a house than to jimmy a lock.
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YO ANIMUS. I need a hook up on a few those. What can you do for me?lol |
| A supervisor at our job site related a breakin in the northeast last week. Somewhere east of Nellis and Lake Mead, I didn't ask specifics. He said his house is right next to a church who recently installed a camera system, thus the video descriptions and timeline. He and his wife were at a friends house a few minutes away that morning, and then the vid picks up two guys walking up to the door, then they are around the back (they broke in there and ripped out the ADT alarm off the wall) - then are seen exiting and leaving in the suv parked (3rd guy) right under a camera in the church parking lot. They return, say :45 later, (and see no police or adt) and enter and start laying out sheets at the bottom of the stairs. Their small dog is barking but backed into a room and not doing much to deter. His wife enters the car garage alone and then the garage door into the home, sees the sheets and hears the dog and calls 9 1 1. Calls the husband second, he is home in 5 min. After checking around the home scene, 10 minutes after arriving, no adt, no 9 1 1 response. He calls 9 1 1 again and says "there's a ______ man in my home with a gun" and hangs up. Cops are there like that (finger snapping). They are pissed because he made that second 9 1 1 call but he did what he had to do to get them there. He's been with adt for 15 years. He called and finally spoke with the regional manager, who offered his appologies for the lack of response, phone / armed / or otherwise, and says he's going to give him $700 + of upgrades to his home. This is turned down and he drops adt like a lead balloon and instead had bars installed in his windows. |
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Medeco offer $15K to anyone who can pick, manipulate or bump any of their locks. That takes confidence to offer and needless to say they still have the $15K And to make a bump key you need a blank Medeco blanks are controlled and every dealer has a different keyway so if you did get a blank it would probably not work in your area. I upgraded to the Medeco locks when the bump keys started to surface. |
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Problem: Burglaries/Home Invasions/Property Damage Solution: Large and/or Very Large Dogs It's not rocket science folks - Men have worked at domesticating these animals for the last 125,000 years. Why........? So they would guard and keep us well. I have a english mastiff named Glory and she is very large, we sometimes call her Bigs |
Locks and deadbolts are not the weak link, upgrading them is false security if the rest of the system is not up to spec. The door jamb will fail - upgrade the entrance areas with swing out steel security doors. Kick on a steel door that swings out and see what happens - not much, the steel flexes and absorbs most of the energy. The ones with expanded metal are the best because when you open your regular door to see who is there - you still have the metal separating you and the stranger, best part is during the day they can't see you through the expanded metal but you can clearly see them. Actually I would like to know how Metro defeats these doors on "no knocks" because it seems they are on many homes in the area. I would think ripping them off would be the fastest way to gain entry....  |
Pretty Darn good Locks,I'd say worth there weight most of the rest can take a back seat IMO |
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We had these on my my last office building, installed 'em on our 20+ year old doors. The last time a burglar entered, a planted a boot right NEXT to our fancy locks, and got the door open quite easily. Locks remained intact, door jamb..well.... +1 on what GB said. Getting fancy locks for security and peace of mind is like putting a spoiler on a Honda Civic to make it go faster....
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That sucks,on a Steel Door has been my experience and on Solid Wood doors they were great on a Properly installed entry way Just Observation
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I've already got the steel security door that swings out, so in my case, the lock is the weak link.  So that brings me back to my question of cost and can they be keyed the same. I currently have 5 locks all keyed the same, so that would be a factor. |