Late night delivery

[Mhoward]

This happened a few days ago but my neighbor and I were talking about it last night and I thought I would share it with yall for some other opinions.

A few weeks ago my wife and I had gotten in bed around 11:00p and we had all of the lights off inside and outside. Our 4 month old son decided to wake up and have a snack around 11:45, as I was laying there talking to my wife someone started knocking on our door so I quietly got out of bed and peaked out of our window and saw a older model SUV in the street with all the lights off. Being cautious I tucked my MP40 into my boxers and went to the door but stopped around the corner from the door, approximately 4-5 ft away, and shouted "who is it". I got no response so I shouted it two more times and still no response. Then Instead of walking to the door to look out of the peep hole I went back into the bedroom and looked out the window and saw a guy standing in the corner of my walkway in a dark blue polo shirt and a dark hat.
By this time my wife was starting to panic so I gave her my MP40 and sent her into the closet with our son, told her not to come out until she heard me say so. I grabbed my Rem. 870 out of the safe and checked out the window to see if he was still there and he was, not in the center of the walkway but off to the side of the door where I wouldn't be able to see him through the peep hole. I went back to the hallway by the door and hollered out "who is it". I didn't hear a response but what I heard was the sound of the door handle wiggle. Immediately I jacked a shell into the 870 and dialed 911 and went back to the bedroom.
While I was giving her the description of the SUV and the guys clothes I checked out the window and saw the guy walking fast to his car and taking off.

After about an hour without hearing back from the PD and not wanting to go to sleep until I knew what was going on I decided to call the PD back. They told me that an officer pulled over a SUV matching the description (early 90's brown bronco) and he was a pizza delivery guy that was lost and wanting to ask directions.

The next morning this was really bothering me. All my lights were off, pitch dark, why would this guy knock on my door. I called the only company that would be delivering pizzas that late in my neighborhood and told them about the incident. The manager looked at the logs and said that the last delivery was made at 11:05 2 blocks from my house. This all happened at 11:45. As I was getting off the phone with her I mentioned the type of car it was and she was like "O, that’s ___ car". She said that he knows the neighborhood very well since he has been working there for a few years, but was also confused about why he would be knocking on my door at 11:45 when he already delivered his last pizza at 11:05. She said she will ask him about that night when he comes back to work the next night.

I am not sure what to think about this. My wife said I was practically screaming at him through the door the last few times I shouted "who is it" and she didn't even here a response, there was no way he couldn't have heard me. The LEO didn't seem to think twice about it, just another lost pizza guy knocking on someone's door in the middle of the night.

I plan on talking to the manager this weekend to see what she has to say, maybe even the guy himself but in the meantime I want to get a security camera installed on my front door step so I can flip on the TV and see who it is before answering the door.

Wonder if the sound of the 870 made him finally leave.

[The Annoyed Man]

If he was legit, why would he try your doorknob? I think he was up to no good. In fact, I would ask the PD if didn't want to check your knob for his prints, because there is no reason at all that he would even have to touch your doorknob unless he was either trying open the door, or testing it to see if it was locked - which is none of his darn business.

[cougartex]

[Bennies]

Yeah 1+1 is not equaling 2 with this guy. Something is not making sense with this guys action and it sounds like he was up to know good. Don't most delivery guys carry some sort of dash mount GPS now to find addresses? This guy may not of been but I see no justification for knocking at someones door around midnight to ask for directions. Does not make sense.

[bnc]

Sounds like he made his last delivery and wanted to pick up an extra tip.

Then he realized that the tip might be hollow.

[texas1234]

Used to deliver pizzas part time. Sorry that is no bueno! Every guy I delivered with was scared of getting jacked and we didnt waste 2 minutes at someones door. If nobody came to the door in a minute or less we were gone, didnt care if they were in the shower, alseep, TV too loud, nobody I delivered with hung around a door for a couple of reasons. One nobody wants to get shot by a homeowner, two you can get set up by people calling you to a vacant addresses. That was a bad deal and I am gald you loaded that 870.

Not to mention there are three kinds of people who deliver pizza. 1.folks who cant do anything else (normally good people just limited skills) 2. folks who are needing to make extra money and are hard working using it as part time or full time gig while in school or getting their feet back on the ground 3) Thugs!!!!

I worked with all three while working part time delivering.

[Excaliber]

This happened a few days ago but my neighbor and I were talking about it last night and I thought I would share it with yall for some other opinions.

A few weeks ago my wife and I had gotten in bed around 11:00p and we had all of the lights off inside and outside. Our 4 month old son decided to wake up and have a snack around 11:45, as I was laying there talking to my wife someone started knocking on our door so I quietly got out of bed and peaked out of our window and saw a older model SUV in the street with all the lights off. Being cautious I tucked my MP40 into my boxers and went to the door but stopped around the corner from the door, approximately 4-5 ft away, and shouted "who is it". I got no response so I shouted it two more times and still no response. Then Instead of walking to the door to look out of the peep hole I went back into the bedroom and looked out the window and saw a guy standing in the corner of my walkway in a dark blue polo shirt and a dark hat.
By this time my wife was starting to panic so I gave her my MP40 and sent her into the closet with our son, told her not to come out until she heard me say so. I grabbed my Rem. 870 out of the safe and checked out the window to see if he was still there and he was, not in the center of the walkway but off to the side of the door where I wouldn't be able to see him through the peep hole. I went back to the hallway by the door and hollered out "who is it". I didn't hear a response but what I heard was the sound of the door handle wiggle. Immediately I jacked a shell into the 870 and dialed 911 and went back to the bedroom.
While I was giving her the description of the SUV and the guys clothes I checked out the window and saw the guy walking fast to his car and taking off.

After about an hour without hearing back from the PD and not wanting to go to sleep until I knew what was going on I decided to call the PD back. They told me that an officer pulled over a SUV matching the description (early 90's brown bronco) and he was a pizza delivery guy that was lost and wanting to ask directions.

The next morning this was really bothering me. All my lights were off, pitch dark, why would this guy knock on my door. I called the only company that would be delivering pizzas that late in my neighborhood and told them about the incident. The manager looked at the logs and said that the last delivery was made at 11:05 2 blocks from my house. This all happened at 11:45. As I was getting off the phone with her I mentioned the type of car it was and she was like "O, that’s ___ car". She said that he knows the neighborhood very well since he has been working there for a few years, but was also confused about why he would be knocking on my door at 11:45 when he already delivered his last pizza at 11:05. She said she will ask him about that night when he comes back to work the next night.

I am not sure what to think about this. My wife said I was practically screaming at him through the door the last few times I shouted "who is it" and she didn't even here a response, there was no way he couldn't have heard me. The LEO didn't seem to think twice about it, just another lost pizza guy knocking on someone's door in the middle of the night.

I plan on talking to the manager this weekend to see what she has to say, maybe even the guy himself but in the meantime I want to get a security camera installed on my front door step so I can flip on the TV and see who it is before answering the door.

Wonder if the sound of the 870 made him finally leave.

I would not suggest going face to face with the subject. I recommend recontacting the PD and asking to speak to a detective. Provide him with the information you uncovered after the original report was written. Red flags should jump out all over for him.

There's no way this was legit. This guy was up to big time no good, and an investigator may be able to match him to a similar approach in another attempted or completed crime in your town or another one close by.

[Skiprr]

I would not suggest going face to face with the subject. I recommend recontacting the PD and asking to speak to a detective. Provide him with the information you uncovered after the original report was written.

In addition, I'd recommend taking a cold, hard, objective look at your property and house. The vast majority of home burglaries are crimes of opportunity, not home invasions. Discounting drug dealers and "known-bad associate" situations, most home invasions target business owners or others who might bring large amounts of cash to their homes.

To help remove yourself as a target of opportunity you'll want to try to put yourself into the mindset of a burglar, and realistically evaluate your home as a target. Perform your evaluation at early morning, midday, and at night. Start from across the street and a few houses away, in both directions; taking photos can help. Look for any and everything that might make your home look attractive or unattractive to a potential burglar.

You said you had no internal or external lights on at the time the event occurred. That might be a great place to start. If a home looks unoccupied, it goes to the top of a burglar's list. Knocking on a door is a (relatively) safe and easy way to ascertain if anybody's home. I'd strongly suggest exterior lighting, particularly motion-activated lighting near your doors. Motion-sensing lighting can do a better, and much cheaper, job of deterring a break-in than can a video camera.

Also, having a light on a timer in a room away from your bedroom but with a prominent window exposure to the street is a sound idea. Set it to turn on and off frequently during the night, at intervals that vary from day to day to keep the pattern looking irregular to anyone who might, say, drive through the neighborhood a few nights in a row. Timers like that go for under $20, and modern CFL lightbulbs can keep the energy usage to a minimum.

Do you have sides of your house that are very dark at night? A side, for example, where there might be one or two windows, but no exterior lighting, and the side of the house is in shadow from the streetlights? That can be an attractive potential access point for a burglar, and is another prime spot for motion-activated lighting. A fenced backyard with no lock on the gate can be appealing because it screens the offender's activities. Likewise, the arrangement of trees and shrubs in your lawn might provide concealment while accessing a window.

Do you have lawn signs and window stickers declaring that the home has a monitored burglar alarm? Are the lawn signs clearly visible to cars passing in front of your house in both directions? Even if you don't have a monitored alarm (as good an idea as it is to have one) you can still obtain signs that make it look as if you do.

You know the old joke about the two guys in a camp at night when a grizzly comes wandering in? One guy stops to put on his shoes, and the other guy asks, "You think you can outrun a bear?" To which the reply: "No, I only need to outrun you."

Point being that you want your home to appear to be the least-likely target on your block. You want it to look like it's occupied. You want it to look like it has an active alarm. If you have an alarm, use it. You want no dark spots at night without motion-sensitive lighting. You want the gate to your backyard locked. You want a padlock on your exterior breaker box. Put the lock-bar on your garage door once you're inside for the day. If you have an attached garage, always lock the adjoining door, day or night. Have an intercom to the front door if you can afford it. Offer no exterior concealment for windows. Don't leave your curtains open during the day so that passersby can look in and decide if you're affluent enough to target for burglary. And the list goes on.

Just like situational awareness is your front-line safety tool when outside your home, for your house it’s the grounds and perimeter that are its front-line safety. The handgun and 870 are a definite, but a little work on the exterior can prevent your home from ever being considered a potential target by a bad guy. Don't make the bear want to chase you.

[Medic218]

I like what Excaliber had to say.
Even if your situation turned out to be uneventful maybe your info could be the lead they've been looking for to piece together other similar cases of unwanted entry into someones home.

[lonewolf]

Believe it or not, even that evergreen shrubbery with those sharp pointy leaves is an effective deterrent around windows. They grow thick and most bad guys don't like them. Sometimes keeping it simple is most effective.......a dog, thorny leaves, patio light on, etc.....

[karl]

Sounds pretty spooky with him being just outside of view, never know what could have happened. I second the motion lights outside and timer lights inside.

[Fangs]

Every guy I delivered with was scared of getting jacked and we didnt waste 2 minutes at someones door... One nobody wants to get shot by a homeowner, two you can get set up by people calling you to a vacant addresses.

My friend had that happen while he was delivering pizzas. The call was made from a nearby pay phone, 2 guys robbed him with a shotgun when he got to the vacant apartment.

Was the guy holding a pizza? My guess is no, wonder if the officers checked to see if he had any on him when he was stopped. If anything, the time stamp of his final delivery and his lying to the officers should be enough to get them to pay some attention to him. I think you did the right thing and that the guy was up to no good.

+1 on talking to a detective. If your 870 didn't scare him straight, there will be a previous recorded incident that can be matched up with his last delivery location on the night he has a successful hit. Then they'll already have his name/vehicle on file. Just another piece of the puzzle when it's needed.

Glad you made it through this with only a little loss of sleep.

[Hoi Polloi]

While I completely agree that this doesn't add up, him wanting to rob you because your house looked vacant doesn't really make sense, either. He knew you were home because he heard you yelling and he still tried the door. I wonder if he was high.

[Fangs]

Speaking just from my experience, delivery guys are robbed at vacant houses, not vice versa. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I think the weirdo took advantage of having a pretty good cover story in an attempt to find an unsuspecting victim.

[xdfanatic]

Wow, I think you (MHoward) did pretty good in the situation honestly. Putting your wife and child in the closet armed IMHO is a good idea and helps you keep control of who is where and what could be going on in the house. Otherwise, evaluating your home security profile is definitely a really good idea. You may want to look into the camera's but honestly I think you could add some pretty good motion sensor flood lights around the house for less. I just bought a house and that was one of the first things I did. Also I leave my porch lights on at night just to make it easier for me to identify someone who may be outside. In relation to what Skippr posted about the fluorescent lights I found some pretty good fluorescent floods that were really bright and are energy efficient. I set my lights to stay on a little longer than the normal setting of 2 minutes also. I think if you add cameras after that all the lights may increase the likelihood of you being able to identify the perpetrator if something should happen. You can never be too serious about your home defense after all because an attack on your home is an attack on your family.
Xd