House Break in

[shooterg]

Couple days ago now - Did my morning coffee at the Hardee's Liars Club, went to Sportsman's Warehouse to get my daily fix of 200 primers, home , turned on Newsmax and the brass tumbler . Cut the TV down so I could hear some video on laptop of Club member Josh Silby shooting in (and winning) the 2 mile shoot at the Whittington Center.(check out King of 2 Miles on FB)
Hear the dryer running in the basement - we don't even leave it plugged in. Hmm- maybe FIL needed to use it ?
Unlock basement door head down, there's a guy in underwear and socks in front of the dryer pulling clothes out.
My hand is now in my pocket gripping the pocket 9 as I ask him "What ...(can't say that here, I know) are you doing in my basement, dude?" He calmly replied "Washing my clothes" . I can tell he's not 100% at this point, so do not draw down on him. Me "What's your name" , Him "Ben" ,Me "Where you from, Ben?" , Him-"Virginia"(we indeed ARE in Virginia), Me- "Where in VA, Ben ?" Him,"Blacksburg" and he says he thought the house was abandoned, that's why he broke the daylight pane in the door/etc. Yeah, right ! Went back upstairs, dialed 911 , he dressed, packed his clothes, and booked back into the woods (I'm 900' or so off the pavement on 80 acres). Dispatcher lady wanted to know if I had a firearm, well, yeah. Asked me to unload and store before deputies arrived. Well, NO, told her the pocket 9 would be in my pocket where it belonged.
Furthur exam of the basement revealed he had indeed washed his clothes, the washer had to be rinsed out with Chlorox. He had removed bathroom mats from the dryer to make a bed of sorts along with an old blanket, drank a few bottles of the wife's water she shelves for power outages/etc. Had gone through all the "junque" boxes stuff strewed all over. Besides water, he stole a stethoscope ! I'd picked it up at the flea market for the nieces/nephews/grandson to play doctor with .
He did not fit description of anyone they were looking for, did not do any fingerprinting. Last I saw of him he was dressed in black(Johnny Cash fan?) with a black backpack heading into the woods.
Couple days later he's on camera stealing from a local grocery and a convenience store so the popo come show me a pic and ask if it's him, Yeah, if you guys ran his prints you'd know who he was, duh. He made the local news with the "if you see him call blah blah" .
Most nights one or the other of us go downstairs for something - that night we did not so we don't know what time he took up residence. Wife still freaked, I had to get up at 3AM next couple days to walk her to car(she goes to work at hospital EARLY !).
Most that know me are surprised he did not get shot , but hard to be afraid of a guy in shorts and socks.
It was apparent that he wasn't "right" and producing the 9 mighta prompted him to do something stupid, in which case, yeah, several 115 grain HP's headed his way . If I'd missed and hit the dryer, wife woulda done me in !
We useta have places to put folks like that before the world went crazy.
Do have a solid door on the basement now, something I shoulda done years ago .

[lancem]

Wow, glad for you that ended well! It is something I think about everyday being 30 miles from the border and miles from the nearest neighbor.

[Handloader109]

Just duh. They walk among us...

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[elmacgyver0]

"We useta have places to put folks like that before the world went crazy."
In slang, they were called funny farms.
They were pretty much self-sustaining and the people who lived there grew their own food and dairy. It gave the people a sense of self worth.
I used to have to run service calls at one, so I know it was not just a bunch of right wing malarky like the left would like you to believe.
Liberal government regulations put them out of business.

[Winger Ed.]

Pres. Reagan gets the blame for closing most of the mental institutions,
but it was actually some lawsuits from the ACLU (I think) that won their case about holding people
against their will if they weren't violent criminals.

[45workhorse]

WOW
Don't know what I would have done!!!!!

Bright side, no "MESS" to clean up!

Glad everything turned out all right!

[Recycled bullet]

That's awful man glad you found a way to peacefully resolve that situation.


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[contender1]

Dern,, that's spooky. And yes,, due to the lack of actual places to keep & house such types,, we have a lot more incidents of this than we should have. Institutions used to be in place for those "just not right."

Glad y'all are ok,, and we understand the "freaked out" mentality. My better half still worries a bit.


We had a home break-in several years ago,,, while we were gone. My cameras revealed a "minority" type thug. Besides the damage to the door, he either kicked or stomped one of our pets who WOULD (before that day,) greet everyone at the door. She wasn't found until several hours after the event, still cowering.
Theft of a fair amount of stuff later, insurance helped a lot. The same thug hit (2) other places in our vicinity that same day. Not local, and from the investigation, an out of towner, likely part of a "gang." The large billboard I posted along the highway with his picture & car info got a lot of attention.

Then, less than 2 years ago,, I found the place where a "disturbed" type, homeless,, was camping on my property. He'd build a fire,, without ANY proper safety stuff. Luckily, small fires that didn't spread. He got a hillbilly education that he was too close to a gun range. Lots of nearby gunfire made him relocate. I still had to clean up his mess.

[deces]

[bedbugbilly]

Glad it didn't end badly - for you. As you say . . . we used to have facilities for the mentally ill but I guess that makes e old if I can remember them. I think you handled the situation well . and it took a lot of restrain and a level head.

A few years back -I was in the basement reloading - wife was at the store - dogs upstairs started making a ruckus. I walked up to check and looking out the window, I see a salt and pepper team - a a girl and a guy - casing our house. I watched the guy walk back around the house and get in the car and then I watched the girl come around the front of the house. I was at the door about twenty feet away when I opened it up and confronter her. She was slick - gave me an excuse about trying to find somebody they'd met at a party . . . blah b.ah blah. I had my hand down and behind me near the door jamb whee she couldn't see it and I advised he rot get back in her care and get off my property . . . and followed up with . . . "you obviously are pretty stupid and you'd better watch yourself about doming on o people's property around here as most of us carry and it would be a shame if you met the wrong person and got shot." Her eyes got big and she quickly tot in the car and they drove off. I went in to town to have a chat with the township Police Chief. His first comment . . . "You have a concealed license don't you?" My answer . . .. "Yes . . . in both Michigan and Arizona'. He quickly replied . . . "If I were you, I'd start carrying all the time . . . even in the house." The next day, the salt and pepper team were arrested in another county - both Heroin addicts who had been breaking into houses to steal guns, jewelry and electronics - they were charged in three counties. That taught me a very valuable lesson about how things had changed so much. Had they broken in and I'd come up from the basement and confronted them in the house, I would have been no match for two people at the same time. Things can go wrong in an instant. Now, both in MI and AZ, I have a weapon within reach at all times. Sadly with the way this country has gone downhill and the boldness of those who think they candy what they want, incidents such as you experienced are on the increase. Nobody wants to have to take another person's life . . . but all you have to do is to turn on the TV every day and there is another assault or murder committed and the majority by those with some mental issues.

Glad you got through it and I hope your wife can find some peace about it eventually . . . having your home violated by an individual or individuals can be a traumatic thing for most people . . . especially when your mind plays the game "what if". Both of you be well and be safe.

[Baltimoreed]

People are brazen nowadays. Wow. Glad nobody got hurt. The cops will catch the guy but then what? I pocket carry in my home every day. Keep the doors locked too.

[No_1]

I hope you made the correct choice not to draw down on him. I believe I would scout your local surround daily until you are confident he is no longer in the area and not returning. If you find a camp, report it then document with photographs every day from the same spot which will help you noticed changes by comparing the new photos to the old.

Don’t forget to carry a shotgun in case you run into rabid animals that refuse to back down / yield / retreat when confronted.

Just my .02, YMMV

Rob

[knifemaker]

You said you installed a "solid" door on the basement entry. Be sure to throw away those short screws that you install the door locking hardware with as they only go into the door molding and one kick the door is open. Install in there place 3 inch wood screws that will go into the door frame studs. will take several hard kicks to bust the door open giving you more time to prepare for defense.
Even if he is arrested, he will be back out before you can blink an eye. Nothing but a revolving door in most areas today for non violent crimes. Thank your lucky stars it was you that discovered him in the basement and not your wife.

[MrWolf]

You said you installed a "solid" door on the basement entry. Be sure to throw away those short screws that you install the door locking hardware with as they only go into the door molding and one kick the door is open. Install in there place 3 inch wood screws that will go into the door frame studs. will take several hard kicks to bust the door open giving you more time to prepare for defense.
Even if he is arrested, he will be back out before you can blink an eye. Nothing but a revolving door in most areas today for non violent crimes. Thank your lucky stars it was you that discovered him in the basement and not your wife.

Good advice. We live remote also, no neighbors, etc. No basement either. I don't walk around the house armedbut there are several within a few feet throughout the house. We also have a 175 lb Great Pyrenees and an 80 lb German Shorth Haired Pointer. One bark from Ruger (GP) and he would have "soiled" himself. Glad you are OK. Reminds me to check my property too (81 acres).

[762 shooter]

Find a way to carry everywhere.

Murphy is surprisingly brutal.

762

[trebor44]

Reading rabbit hole: "why were mental institutions closed". Google the phrase!

[perotter]

Had a similar thing happen to me 2 and 1/2 years ago. But I did have to fire off shot get them to settle down. I too did install a better basement door.

[armoredman]

Still trying to get my wife to carry all the time, "But nothing has EVER happened out here, and it probably never will"...until it does. Good you came through that with nothing more than a broken window and rummaged stuff, though I'll bet that washing machine REEKED.

[Sig556r]

That would’ve turned south real quick…presence of mind & recognizing he’s not all up there averted that.
BTW my pocket 9 carries 147g HPs…

[Half Dog]

I can imagine things getting worse when these illegals begin to get desperate.