Car broken into and they came back the next night.

[Tucker 1371]

Being the semi paranoid person that I am I would guess that they're trying either to intimidate you, figure out a way around the cameras, or figure out who's home when. Any way you cut it it's not good. Do the cameras catch cars driving past the house? If so you could probably show the video to police and so they could see that they're the same people that were snooping around your mom's place. I honestly have no idea how the police operate but maybe you could have a squad car parked up the road so that next time they drive by they can tail them on their way out and scare them a little.

[Sixer]

It's sooooo easy to sit here at a keyboard and tell you the "proper" behavior to display when in this situation. It's a WHOLE different story when you actually have thugs in your driveway breaking into your vehicle and damaging your property.... Let alone the peace of mind they are taking from you and your mother.

If it was ME (this is not a suggestion) I would not be hiding in my house while someone is on MY property stealing or vandalising. That is PLENTY enough reason for me to confront the threat and deal with it. I'm not saying I'm going to go out "guns blazin" but I will be well armed. You can only stand by and watch this happen for so long. The cops aren't doing their job and you evidently cannot count on them to resolve your problem.

You can't go looking for trouble, but if trouble comes looking for you... then you might as well be prepared. I live in MO where the Castle Doctrine applys to your property as well as your home. My house, my property, my family = fair game.

That's not chest beating or blood thirsty... the last thing I would want to do is take anothers life... that's just how it is, nothing illegal or outrageous about it.

[pacerdude]

Sixer, thank you for your support. I could feel the adrenaline pumping when they were wandering around my front yard taking more pictures of our cars and snooping around. It sucked to just sit in my house and watch them. We had the police on the line and they said they were coming. But an hour later we called to find out where they were and the dispatcher told us the officer decided not to come and speak with us. Its a terrible feeling to watch them on our property and be too afraid of the consequences to do anything about it. I heard though that here in Georgia our "castle doctrine" extends to cover our whole property.

[BlindMansBluff]

1. this sounds extremely personal and we aren't getting the full story
2. we can't advise you unless we get the full story
3. where I come from, a couple trips around the house to case the house and then it was hit, weather it was running inside kicking in doors with bats swinging, guns shooting, or knives stabbing.
4. There is more to this, I am not sure what it is but remember you can't shoot until they violate you directly, you can't kill over your car getting pics taken but, as soon as they kick your door or break a front window don't hessitate one sec to start laying them down, all COM shots and lay them all down.

they are cowards and the whole parading around your house knowing you are inside is a scare tactic for them.

but you have to tell us the whole story for the best advice.

[comn-cents]

How about a BIG DOG? That may offer a bit of comfort to your MOM.
I have a few hundred pounds of dog in my house that are loud. When I'm away I know that it would almost be imposable to get into my house without stirring them up and warning my wife someone is here.

I have motion lights (someone mentioned) all around my house and I love them. I also just installed a light that was less than 30 bucks at home depot. It goes on at dust and off at sunrise and it lights up a 30 sq foot area very nicely. It's not overly bright either more like a street light.

Shotgun is a great Idea the sound of that when they are on your property just says GO AWAY.

Good luck, that's a tough situation. My sister had a stocker once (old boyfriend) that use to come to the house. We had a security screen on the front door, I stood behind that and asked him never to come back. He couldn't see me and I just took a deep breath and tried to sound as calm as I could. He never came back. I really wanted to steep out with my Louisville and show him a good old time. Good Luck again.

[pacerdude]

Unless they come in my house and threaten my family, more than they already have, I wont even draw my pistol. I just wish I could make them leave my family alone.

[KingEdward]

earlier, I posted to not go outside in the middle of the night (3am) but stay in and observe / defend Simply because you are not oriented well and who knows who or how many are out there.

But I'll add....

If it's 10pm and these clowns are on your property, taking pictures, messing around, loitering, you have every right to be present and turn a high powered spotlight on them and say get lost.

Being armed or not is up to you and I would be via CCW. My first priority would be to spot light their vehicle(s) and then them personally.

My second priority would be to have someone in the house watching and calling police to come and remove the trespassers.

Lastly, I would not turn my back to them but I would stand my ground on my property. You have that right and they need to leave.

As for them confronting or turning on you, it's all on camera and just make sure you do not threaten them but you can defend yourself if they force the issue.

Maybe they think a couple of defensless women only live there.

[OuTcAsT]

Your decision to not go outside and confront an unknown number of thugs is very wise.

While the "castle laws" are in full force in GA, and do extend onto your property, you are still dealing with a great number of variables, for instance, is there more than one bad guy ? you have no way to tell. Is he/they armed? again no way to know, If you are injured or killed, is there another weapon for your family to protect themselves?

Most rational thinking individuals will err on the side of caution and defend from inside their home, where you have a better chance of controlling the unknown.

Does this mean that you have to be a prisoner in your own home? No, but you do need to make sure you are situationally aware of your surroundings, and teach your family to do the same. If confronted outside, that is a different matter. You must be prepared to defend yourself.

Good Luck, and stay alert.

[Sixer]

Pacerdude, I had a somewhat similar situation happen at my parents house not too long ago. Long story short, some punk ass meth head thought my 19yr old brother was talking to his girlfriend. The guy showed up in broad daylight (nice, quiet neighborhood) and played home-run derby on his Jeep. This kid (a 24yr old) also left a threatening message on my brother's phone while in my parent's driveway.

Luckily my parents were not home and my brother was fast asleep when all of this was happening. The only thing damaged was the Jeep ($3000 in glass and body work) but the thought of this guy coming back for more was no good.

I found out about the whole incident about an hour after it happened. I was at my parents within minutes. I was seeing red, shaking, furious! My brother can hold his own.... but this dude crossed a serious line by coming to my parents house with a baseball bat. It took about 1/2 hour to calm myself down.

An hour later I had this guys phone #, home address, and name. I was no longer in "revenge" mode so I called and left a very short message for him to call me, which he did. I was calm but deliberate on the phone. This guy knew he got himself in too deep and was almost begging me not to "tell the cops". He offered to pay but nobody wanted his dirty money. I told him I wasnt going to come after him or anything like that. I just made sure he knew that coming back to my parent's home would be a very big mistake... I don't play with ball bats. We ended up pressing charges and found out this guy was already on probation and will likely be looking at jail time.

Anyway, that's my story, sorry to rant but I can relate to the overwhelming feeling of anger that you experience when you feel your family's safety has been compromised. Property in itself is not a big deal, you and your family's well being IS. Just think of how you want the situation to end and try to reach that conclusion without doing anything dumb

[skydiver3346]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Pacerdude. I would show the authorities your video and see if they can set up a stake out of your Mom's house and/or yours. Doubt they will spend the $$ but its worth a try. Whatever you do, wait for the bad guys to make the first move, (don't let them goad you into something you might regret later) and then with your prior video evidence and also having reported these incidences to police you should be justified in responding to a real threat.
Best of luck to you. Sorry to hear about dirt bags like that putting your Mom in such fear. That kind B.S. really ticks me off.........

[only1najeep]

I had a situation last summer with someone vandalizing my vehicle on and off for 2 weeks. I even parked my car in my parents back yard and it was still vandalized. It took a fake camera and leaving my parents dog outside to get it to stop. I never found out who it was or why they were doing it, but I can say I understand somewhat how you feel, and I hope everything turns out okay.

[dabigguns357]

I had something similar happen to me when we lived down in Huntington WV.My wife and i had both our cars broken into no less than 7 times within 4 months.They even vandalized 12 other cars along with ours,slashing tires knocking dents into cars also knocked out headlights and stole stuff off porches.Anyway we all called the police and nothing was done so i installed night vision camera's all around and started recording.Sure enough i caught them and called the police several times with no effect at all.

I eventually stopped calling the police and contacted the local news who then started doing stories and airing the video.The cops started coming around more and the street urchins(11 total) were arrested.

Keep records and video and send them in to your local news,hopfully they will air them and the situation will get handled.

[pacerdude]

Well we just got home with my moms brand new shotgun a Mossberg 500 series. Its a 20 gauge shotgun and we bought it quick this evening at Walmart. I have a feeling they will be back.

[OuTcAsT]

Then relax, take a deep breath, and work with your entire family to formulate a plan for the possibility.

Find a safe place for everyone, make sure they know what you intend to do, and practice your response a few times.

A corporate plan, and a bit of common sense can go a long way to helping you get a good nights sleep. Possibly monitor in shifts, and if things get ugly outside, get everyone to a safe location, preferably a single room, arm yourselves, call 911, and keep your cool.

1) Tell 911 you have an intruder that is trying to enter your home. (do not lie, only tell them if they are trying to enter)

2) Tell them you are armed.

3) Tell them your exact location inside the house,( North west corner, Southeast corner etc.) and how many you are.

4)Someone stay on the line until police arrive and you are satisfied it is safe.

5) If you believe they have entered your home do not come out of your safe room until the 911 operator confirms that police have cleared your home.

6) When you are satisfied that the police are indeed the only people outside your door, secure your weapons before you go out, and make sure the 911 operator communicates this to the officers.

This is the best advice I can give, Godspeed my friend.

[OttoJara]

Good luck Pacerdude, I feel for ya man, we have some little thugs in my nieghborhood too but nothing that bad. Do you have any friends that will hang with you for a couple nights and a place for your mom and sister to go to? I'm not saying to start something but if a couple of big guys come out of the house instead of your mom, they might think again about coming back. Good Luck tonight, I'll say a prayer for you and your family to be left alone.

[OuTcAsT]

I'll say a prayer for you and your family to be left alone.

Same Here.

[ImprobableJoe]

The whole thing sounds completely unreal... I could give you better advice for zombie invasions or nuclear war, because both scenarios seem more likely.

I'm not saying that you or your mom are lying, but the alternative is that these guys are mentally ill, and there's no way to anticipate the behavior of psychos.

[OuTcAsT]

The whole thing sounds completely unreal... I could give you better advice for zombie invasions or nuclear war, because both scenarios seem more likely.

I'm not saying that you or your mom are lying, but the alternative is that these guys are mentally ill, and there's no way to anticipate the behavior of psychos

Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.

[Mike Irwin]

How does your camera system store what has been recorded?

It should, ideally, upload it to a secure website, NOT just record it to a tape or disk in the house. That could be stolen and destroyed in a break in, and then you have nothing.

[bdturner]

I feel truly blessed to live so far off the road and in the back country that we don't have problems like this. It is hard to imagine living in fear of just parking your truck in the driveway. Pacerdude I hope everything works out for you. I wish I lived closer we could sit on the front steps and clean guns some night

[pacerdude]

Our camera system records everything to a Digital Video Recorder (kind of like a Tivo), the video is also stored on the companies website. Guys, I also wish this was unreal and my mom was paranoid, but I saw these perps with my own eyes and they werent just lost...

[tpareloader]

Pacerdude I hope everything works out for you. I wish I lived closer we could sit on the front steps and clean guns some night

I agree.

[VA9mm]

Someone already suggested it, a big dog would be good if that's something you want to explore. I have 2 pittbulls and know the family will be there when I get back. Any large breed will do.

It's a shame that someone has to live in fear and nothing can be done except make note of it. Talk to your neighbors and tell them the situation, have them keep an eye out for you as well.

Hope your family is safe and everything works out.

[Beentown71]

I hope that everything works out for you and yours. Hopefully they get bored and decide that there are easier targets with the addition of the security cams. If all else fails... punji sticks and a moat


Beentown

[pacerdude]

If the shotgun doesnt make the point, I might move on to the punji sticks and the moat.