We recently received two notes from readers about scary situations.
This morning Angie wrote:
I just wanted to send in a friendly neighborhood reminder to all of the PhinneyWood readers (and beyond) to lock your doors when you’re not at home. I live on a quiet street at 83rd and 10th Ave NW and yesterday, I came home early from work at about 2:30pm to find a random teenager passed out, face down in my living room! He had walked down our driveway and found the back door which had mistakenly been left unlocked when both my husband and I left for work in the morning. I called the police who responded really quickly and entered the house, guns drawn to drag this 16 year old, very drunk kid, out of my house — thankfully he threw up outside and not all over our new couch. He didn’t seem to have touched anything in the house at all, nothing seems to be missing. He just came in and passed out. There is no way to know if he was alone the whole time or if there were other kids with him who left him there, but the situation could have been so much worse on so many levels. And, could have been avoided had we remembered to lock our door.
And last weekend, an anonymous reader had this experience:
I wanted to make you aware of an attempted break-in tonight around 7:30 pm at my home at 2nd Ave NW and 87th. I’d like to remind my neighbors not to answer the door for strangers and to call 911 about ANYTHING suspicious. As my father-in-law, who was a cop in another state, told me, if your hair stands on end and something doesn’t feel right, listen to your instincts.
I was home alone with my baby tonight. Around 7 pm, a young black man came up my steps past the no soliciting sign and began aggressively, loudly pounding on my front door. Not knocking — pounding, for about three minutes straight. I did not know him, and he was not carrying a board or anything to indicate that he was selling anything, so I did not answer the door. It looked like no one was home (no car in the driveway, front porch light on, and I did not answer), and I was pretty sure he was casing the house. I called 911. Shortly thereafter, I heard pounding against the side of my house. (I realized later that this was someone trying to break into the basement window. The grass was all trampled there. Thankfully the window is nailed shut.) I called 911 back. Cops were here within minutes and continued to drive around the neighborhood all night.
At the same time that someone was trying to break into my basement window, a young man of similar description, but neater clothes (button-up shirt and sweater) was across the street asking my neighbor to buy magazine subscriptions for $50. He seemed a bit fishy to her, and looked in and around her house. They might be working together.
Just wanted to let my neighbors know to be safe, don’t open your door to strangers, and call 911 if you see anything suspicious.
And thank you, Seattle Police, for taking immediate action.
24 responses so far ↓
1 Dirty Sanchez // Aug 12, 2010 at 11:07 am
Remember if you shoot an intruder fire the second round (or warning shot) into the ceiling.
2 Tiktok // Aug 12, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Actually, if you’d answered the door, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to try and break in. The “casing” is determining if there’s someone in the house. Actual home invasions are scary, but quite rare. Guys casing a house by knocking on doors and posing as salesmen/signature gatherers and then breaking into empty houses is much more common.
3 Nope // Aug 12, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I’m the person the attempted break-in happened to, and, actually, Tiktok, I asked the cops what I should have done and they said it’s safest to never answer the door to strangers — they said not even to respond verbally from behind a closed door, especially a woman home alone. If I’d opened the door, he probably would have forced his way in, and the situation could have been a lot worse.
4 Me Agree Yes Ugh // Aug 12, 2010 at 12:52 pm
@3 You are correct. There have been a string of assaults on women who answer their doors lately. @2 You are so very wrong. Please keep tabs on SeattleCrime.com to be in the know and to get yourself familiar with this M.O.
5 Jen // Aug 12, 2010 at 12:55 pm
We also had an attempted break in (near 110th and 3rd NW) a couple weeks ago. It was just before 5 pm on a Friday night, no one was home and who ever it was must have left once they set off the alarm, though they did take a bike rack that was outside our back garage door. Though the police say that there is no rise in break in or attempted break in rates in the area, that is not supported by the many stories we are hearing from friends and neighbors in our neighborhood.
6 iheartgreenwood // Aug 12, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I read on the city’s crime-tracking map site that break-ins are up 6%. Seems to be getting worse since the economy tanked.
7 nettieboop // Aug 12, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Get to know your neighbors. A strong neighborhood watch is a good thing.
8 christy // Aug 12, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Wow–what Nope says the cops told her directly contradicts what the cops have said at every crime prevention and block watch meeting I’ve ever been to. Knocking on the door first is what someone almost always does before breaking in–our cops told us NEVER to ignore a door knock. You don’t have to answer–you just pull back a window curtain and make sure they see it, yell, “who’s there” through the door, etc. The cops told us that ignoring a door knock is just asking to be broken in to. That is so bizarre that the cops told “nope” not to answer verbally that I have to wonder if they were new, or if “nope” misunderstood, or what the deal was.
Our block suffered a number of break ins and car thefts ~5 years ago, but we haven’t had anything in recent years.
9 gdog // Aug 12, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Christy…
I’m “nope’s” husband.
There was no misunderstanding, they were not new cops, and neither was the 911 operator…all of whom said don’t answer the door if you feel threatened or scared and are a female home alone. Nothing “bizarre” about it. As her husband, who wasn’t there at the time unfortunately, I’m happy she didn’t open the door….it just breaks the seal and invites a door kick to swing it wide.
Thanks for your input.
10 Bells // Aug 12, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I think it might just depend on the situation and what you are comfortable with. My husband is a police officer (0n the Eastside) he works crazy hours and we have a young child. But regardless if he is home or not, whenever someone knocks on our door and we don’t know them, we tend to just ask them what they want with the door closed. There have been times though when I’ve gotten a bad vibe, or it’s been too late and I’ve just ignored it. I usually always make it a point though to make it obvious that someone is home. (House lit up like a Christmas tree, tv on, etc. )
11 Hmmm // Aug 12, 2010 at 4:17 pm
You know, I never answer the door home alone, but I’m thinking I should get a recording of a really large and beefy sounding dog to play!
12 anotherneighbor // Aug 13, 2010 at 1:09 am
A couple months ago, I had an older white guy come to our door. Not only was I home, but I had a male friend over who was helping work on the house, AND the dog choose that moment to go totally ape.
He claimed to be with our insurance, and I was tired enough and a little flustered enough that I didn’t get a good look at whatever it was he flashed at me.
The door was already open (since the friend was working on building and sanding and stuff).
He was interested in our alarm system and that we had a loud, barking dog.
I let him think she might bite strangers…
13 Christy // Aug 13, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Gdog, you misunderstood my post. Nowhere did I say OPEN the door. Our blockwatch and community outreach cops don’t tell you to OPEN the door. They tell you to never ignore it–yell through the door, look through a window, just somehow let people know you are there. I would urge you to do some follow up on this–the cops that came to our block watch meeting were so emphatic about not ignoring door knocks–one said the only times he’s ever had to respond to violent break ins was where the homeowner ignored the door knock, the door knocker broke in, and some kind of physical altercation ensued.
14 SPG // Aug 13, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I think there’s a little bit of confusion on the question of to answer the door or not…
Letting them know that you’re home is enough. You don’t have to open the door to do that. Turn on the light, move a curtain, say “We’re busy” (note the plural even if it’s just you at home) but you don’t have to actually open the door and talk to them if you’re not comfortable with that. That means that the police advice for a female, home alone, who isn’t comfortable fighting someone off, not opening the door is valid and good advice.
The other thing that most people don’t know about “home invasions” is that most of them are between drug dealers. Sure, there are occasions where random homes are targetted, but even most of the reports in the paper that you read will turn out to be dealers ripping each other off, though the police and press are a little reluctant to make those accusations without a lot of proof.
15 SPG // Aug 13, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Oh yeah… Get a dog.
16 Whopper // Aug 13, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Answer the door with your Glock in one hand.
Works like a charm every time.
17 Nope // Aug 13, 2010 at 3:19 pm
We have a dog. A loud dog who usually scares strangers, but did nothing to deter this guy, who incidentally appeared to be high on something (if his jumpy, bouncing-from-foot-to-foot behavior was any indication). There were also some lights on. I understand what you’re saying, because I doubted my own instincts for a minute, which is why when the cops came and I was out of immediate danger, I asked their advice on how to stay safe in the future. I specifically asked, “What do I do when someone is pounding at the door?” It’s of note that, as I said in my original e-mail to phinneywood about the incident, this guy was not just knocking on my door like a door-to-door salesman. He was aggressively, loudly, unreasonably pounding on the door as he bounced from foot to foot. He was big and scary. He ignored the very clear “No soliciting” sign. And I was scared, so I ignored it and called the cops. But when I asked them later if this was the right thing to do, or whether I should have said or done something to let him know I was there, they unequivocally said, “Don’t say or do anything. Do not open the door. Just call 911, take the baby and the phone and get into the bathroom or another locked room away from the pounding outside and take a weapon with you if you have one.” That’s the same advice I got from my father-in-law, who is a former cop and sheriff in another state. At any rate, I shared this harrowing experience to warn my neighbors so they could be aware of the threat and keep themselves safe. The comments about what I should or shouldn’t have done feel like blaming the victim, and add insult to injury.
18 Nope // Aug 13, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Also, I know the posts from “Dirty Sanchez” and “Whopper” are tongue-in-cheek, but next time, I will be armed and therefore, less scared.
19 gdog // Aug 13, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Christy…
I don’t care to understand your post. My wife posted this to warn people that this was going on in the neighborhood and to be forewarned/forearmed…. not to be subjected to Monday Morning Quarterbacking of her crime-deterrence by a bunch of passive-aggressive Seattlites with nothing better to do. When this guy comes to your house, you’re more than welcome to answer the door/not answer the door/invite him in for a cup of tea for all I care. You handle it your way, and we’ll handle it ours….
20 Jason // Aug 13, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Actually Whopper, answering the door with a sock puppet is waaay more effective than a gun.
21 Stupid Hippie // Aug 13, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Prayer flags are all I need to protect my house.
22 R // Aug 15, 2010 at 9:22 am
I suspect that the confusion in the 2 different answers here is that there are 2 different questions.
When someone knocks at the door, how do I avoid being physically attacked?
The answer to this may be…
“Don’t say or do anything. Do not open the door. Just call 911, take the baby and the phone and get into the bathroom or another locked room away from the pounding outside and take a weapon with you if you have one.”
When someone knocks at the door, how do I avoid a financial loss?
The answer to this may be to make it clear that someone is home without unlocking the door.
23 christy // Aug 16, 2010 at 11:17 am
Wow. My comments were meant with the best of intentions–to pass along what I have learned at numerous block watch and community crime prevention meetings. They were not meant as a personal attack. I’m not sure why that makes me passive agressive, nor do I understand why this makes me someone with nothing better to do–I think crime prevention is pretty important.
It’s really too bad we can’t share information or disagree without it disinigrating into personal attacks.
24 Nope // Aug 17, 2010 at 10:49 am
It’s really too bad that someone can’t share a warning about a frightening attempted break-in to protect her neighbors without being blamed as though the event were her own fault. Next time I won’t bother.
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