I just wanted to pass along an experience I had the week before Christmas and perhaps it will get others "thinking" about such things and what "could be".
My wife and I live in a small two bedroom ranch style house that we built on the back of the farm 40 years ago. It sits back from the road and has what some would consider a "long driveway" - but the house is still visible on the hill it sits on from the road.
We are "creatures of habit". We both are retired and live here with our two little dogs - my 10 pound poodle and her 20 pound poodle/bichen mix. They are our "kids". On Mondays, she goes grocery shopping and I usually stay home. I have a room in the basement where I do my reloading, leatherwork, etc.
My wife went shopping the Monday before Christmas. I went to the basement to do some things and as usual, the two dogs went to their beds to lay down in the sunroom off our garage to await her return. About an hour after my wife had left, I became aware of the dogs barking upstairs - they are very good about this when anybody comes to the house. Hmmm, I thought. It's not time for her to be back yet. So, I went upstairs to see what was going on. I found the dogs looking out the window on to the deck that we use for an entrance at the end of the sunroom. I walked over and there was a small sedan parked up by our garage Which is attached to the house and next to the sunroom - nobody in sight. We don't get a lot of visitors but we do have the meter reader come once a month to read the meter so I thought it might be him . . but then I remembered that I had paid the electrical/gas bill the previous week and it was certainly too early to read the meter. I stood there watching the car . . still no one in sight and then the dogs took off running through the kitchen into the living room where we have a front porch entry. I followed, took a quick look . . still saw no one. I walked back in to the sunroom to look out at the car and I saw a tall young black man getting into the passenger seat. My first thought was "where is the driver"?
I stood there a few seconds and saw a younger white woman walking back to the car from the front of the house. I stepped out and asked (politely) if I could help them. The young woman walked over and up on the deck where I was standing just outside the door and she proceeded to tell me they were looking for . . . . (she gave me a name I didn't recognize). She acted very pleasant. She then went on to give me a story that she had "hooked up" with the girl she was looking for on Facebook but the girl didn't give her good directions to the house where she lived, only the road and that the house sat back in from the road, etc., etc. All the time she was looking at me straight in the eye. Something just didn't sit right with me and I began to note various things to remember. One thing was that she had a piercing in her upper left cheek with a diamond like stud in it, the style of her hair and I was able to look past her and see the black fellow in the seat. He had scruffy facial hair and I could guess his height and weight remembering him as I had watched him get into the passenger seat. She said she would keep looking. At that point, I looked her square in the eye and made the statement . . . "you're not form around here and this is a rural area so you'd better be careful when you drive in to someone's driveway and approach their house as many of us carry out here." She never batted an eye and her parting remark was "I really like your dogs, they're cute!" Her behavior and remarks all very "smooth".
They left and went on down the road but the more I thought about it, the more "un-easy" I got about it. Later that day, I stopped at the township to see if I could find the police chief but with holidays coming up, they township offices were on "holiday hours". Then as I thought about it more . . we had a lot on the TV about people looking for packages sitting on decks, porches, etc. that could easily be stolen - I'm sure that was everywhere else as well.
The next night, I had a call from my neighbor across the road. He leaves his house early in the morning and he just wanted to tell me that he had observed a car parked halfway up our driveway a couple of days previous. He turned around down the road and came back and the car was pulling away down the road. He said that he felt we were being "cased". The car he described was not the same as the car I saw that had the white girl and black fellow in it. He said that it made him uneasy enough that he had called the township police and reported it. I later found out that they had sent a car out and checked our house but we had left early that morning to go to a nearby city for a doctor appointment, so we didn't see the police.
The Monday after Christmas, I pulled up our local weekly newspaper on-line and what should I see right on the front page? A story about the arrest of a pair for multiple home invasions - and photos of the girl and guy who had been at my house! According to the story, they had been suspected of two home invasions in the next county over where guns, jewelry, electronics, etc. had been taken. The arresting agency had received a tip, been able to follow them as they went through two other counties plus the one I live in and observed them "casing" homes. They finally had enough evidence to make a stop an they arrested them both.
The following day, I was able to contact our township police chief and fill him in on what had happened at my house. He said they had not been able to link them to any break-ins or home invasions in our township but he would pass the information along to the agency that will be handling the prosecution of both of them. As it turns out, both are heroin addicts and were doing home invasions to steal to support their habit. Fortunately, none of the homes they hit were occupied. I also gave the chief the descriptions on the cars - the one my neighbor saw and the one they were driving . . . and another one that had been on our road that was acting strangely - pulling into driveways, etc.
In talking with the chief, who i have know since he took the job, I mentioned that I have never felt "un-safe" here. Until a few years ago, you could leave home with your doors unlocked and never worry - neighbors knew neighbors and we all kept an eye out on each other. Not so anymore. Our area has had growth over the years and along with that, the "everybody knows everybody" no longer exists. I mentioned that I am licensed to carry in both AZ and MI and that I often carry in AZ but other than a few times here in MI, I never really felt the need. He just looked up from the notes he was writing on what I was saying and very seriously said, "You might want to reconsider that."
Since this all happened, I have had the opportunity to run a lot of thoughts through my head. First, I had a gut feeling that "something wasn't right" with the man and woman and I should have listened to my inner feelings and called 911 immediately .. . . I didn't. If it were not for our two dogs making a fuss and barking, I would probably not have heard them break in if they thought our house was unoccupied as I was in the basement. Had I heard their footsteps on the floor above me, I probably would have assumed that my wife was home from the store and would have gone upstairs to help carry in the groceries which is my usual habit. If that had happened, I would have run into both the man and the woman inside our house and since our house is small, it wouldn't have taken long . . . and I could easily have been surprised and overtaken by 2 on 1. Home invasions occur daily in this country and often result in a surprised occupant . .and their death as a result.
In years past, I worked ambulance as well as fire & rescue. I saw many many tragic things that still haunt my sleep at nights. I have always tried to be aware of my surroundings and possible things that could happen and have tried to impress those things on my wife as well when she is out and about. But I still would like to think that I try to find the "best" in people . . . but lets face it . . . there is a lot of evil that exists in this world and a lot of people who would slit your throat over a dollar or actually, nothing. I saw it in my experiences while working ambulance/fire/rescue and I am well aware that often times an addict will do what is necessary to get their next fix . . even if it means doing harm to another individual. I was even shot at once as we arrived on scene and as a result, I refuse to be a "victim" and try to be aware at all times of what is going on around me . . . or I would like to think so at least. But, as my experience above illustrates . . it doesn't always work that way.
Years ago, I had a friend who moved to Florida after he retired with his wife and he got a job with the maintenance department of a nearby community college. The had an apartment in a nice area. One morning, he got up, got around, had breakfast with his wife and went out to go to work like he always did. He got to his car and was attacked by an addict who was high. The guy had a claw hammer and beat him repeatedly over the head. Another resident saw it and called 911 and a nearby cruiser responded and nabbed the perp . . but my friend was very near death. Fortunately, he survived but was never right after that.
I had a cousin who worked as a cashier in a newly built corner drug store. She was very outgoing, loved her job and loved people. A guy came in "high", showed her a knife and demanded the money in the cash register. She was a larger gal and very spunky . . she refused to give the guy anything. The guy jumped the counter, stabbed her over and over and then grabbed the cash he could get and ran out. She died almost instantly. The store had only been open for a week and was in a very good neighborhood.
I say all this to let people know that "things" can happen anytime . . . anywhere . . . and you need to be aware of your surroundings and what is going on. If you see something that "doesn't sit right" . . . don't question it. Call 911 . . . it is better to be safe than sorry.
I . . . as most people do . . . live under the false illusion that we like to feel "safe" in our homes and that nothing bad could ever happen to us there. But then most of us were brought up with morals and compassion for others and know the difference between "right and wrong". But there are many, many people out there that don't live by the moral compass that we do. I have always kept a loaded handgun hidden where I thought that I could easily get to it if necessary. After thinking about what could have happened if we did not have the dogs and I did not hear them, I no longer live under that illusion. Nor do I think that I can "handle" a situation no matter what. One person intruding . . . maybe if you were lucky. More than one person invading your space . . . don't count on it. As our police chief said . . "you'd better rethink that". The experience rattled me enough that I know that if I am here alone, or my wife is, there will be a loaded weapon in close proximity. If I am here alone or working outside in my shop or yard, it will be on my belt. And I don't consider that as being "afraid" . . I consider it to be "common sense" with the way things are becoming . . . and it doesn't make a difference where you live.
I wonder what Hillary or any of her gang would do in such a situation? Of course she and many of others who tout the anti-gun movement have either their own bodyguards or tax supported secret service in her situation. To depend on LE for your protection is a fallacy . . . and I am not knocking LE at all, I have the highest respect for them and what they do. But in 99% of the time . . . they are "reactive" to a situation and vary rarely in the position to "prevent". In the end, it's about neighbors looking out for neighbors. Keep your eyes open and if something appears strange or out of the norm, call and report it. That call may give the LE the upper hand to "prevent" rather than having to "react". Assess you own situation and determine how you can make your environment more safe in terms of preventing break ins or possible home invasions. I'm sure that most LE agencies would be more than happy to provide information and suggestions. I think everyone can agree that material things can be replaced if stolen . . . but a life can't. As the police chief said . .. I was lucky as the duo that I ran into here at the house had been stealing guns and they are still trying to sift out as to whether they were in possession of any as they did their home invasions.
Hopefully no one here will have an experience like this and I'm sorry for the length of this post. But I hope that it will get some to thinking about what could happen and to be prepared as to how they might react . . . and to remind us all that we need to look out for our neighbors and each other.
Thanks.
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DougGuy
Originally Posted by Rick Hodges
