My doorbell rings at 2:00 am

[billvau]

At 2:00 am I was awaken by several rapid doorbell rings. I was alone because my wife was out of town seeing her parents. I got my CZ BD 9 mm and quietly went to the foyer and looked out the side window. Nobody. Went to the back door and no one there also, but the outside motion sensor light was on.

Waited and listened at a point near the back door, and the bell rang again 10 minutes later. Again, I saw no one out the window. At that point I picked up the landline to call 911 but had no dial tone. Grabbed my cell phone and 911 dispatched the police. At that point I finally realized I better signal to whoever was outside that someone was home, and I went to an adjacent room and turned on the lights. Those lights would not compromise my location if the door was kicked in but would be visible outside and MIGHT deter a break-in??

Anyhow, I positioned myself to have a good position to cover the back door if it was kicked in. The cops showed up 10 minutes later. They walked around my house and sure enough, my landline phone lines had been ripped from the building.

More info: I had two visible vehicles in the driveway. House must have looked occupied. Also, we have a local alarm system and their decals and signs all around the house. Were these guys just looking for a B&E? Or waiting for me to open the door and then push their way in? Cutting the lines seems kind of dumb since everybody has a cell phone, and our alarm system, like many others, communicates via radio signal to the monitoring station. A B&E with two vehicles in driveway at 2:00 in the morning with a house that has an alarm system that will make a lot of noise to the many close neighbors does not make sense to me. What in the hell were these guys up to?

Finally, after the two cops left, the guys did not leave the area. They must have been hiding in a nearby wooded area. They then went to a neighbors house and rang his doorbell. He answered the door, saw no one, and he had no other incidents that night.
The behavior of these people does not seem rational to me - maybe they were "chemically impaired" or perhaps just stupid. Any opinions as to their motive?

[Sevens]

I really like your idea to turn on a light in a non-occupied and non-critical room.

A story like this makes cameras and DVR seem like a fine investment.

[TXAZ]

You are articulating why I have a camera system and ability to turn on/ off lights remotely.
I don’t want to deal with ???? at 2am in particular what you described.
If they stay outside, it’s 911. If they don’t, it’s unfortunate.

[FireForged]

As always, they could have been up to just about anything but this type of information gathering is not uncommon among burglars. They may want to know who is home, ...young, old, male, female, how many occupants.. dogs? They may want to know how you react to odd happenings and how long it takes for the police to arrive.

On the more sinister possibilities they may simply want you to open your door, come outside.. they may lure you outside with the damaged phone lines, breaking of glass or disturbed trash containers.

You did well and kept your head about you. Letting them know you were home is a roll of the dice but I tend to believe that in most cases, its probably the better option. I am glad you did not open the door in search of these unknown visitors. Stay alert.. just in case they decide to return.

[billvau]

I am looking at camera systems and plan to install one soon.

[CalmerThanYou]

Pretty brazen move to rip the tele lines out. That indicates bad motive, well beyond the doorbell ring. Seems like you did everything right to cause them to move on to a perceived easier target. Hope they get caught soon.

[Sharkbite]

If they stay outside, it’s 911. If they don’t, it’s unfortunate

Well said......

[Lohman446]

I would be willing to write this off as "stupid kids" or someone moving on to an easier target except for the phone lines being torn off. That would be the most disconcerting part of the scenario to me. When I had land lines going into my house I had cased them in pipe from the ground to the box. Still could be overcome but not handy. The style I had a door sensor for my alarm system would have fit inside.

If I had just had your experience I would have those cased in pipe and put an alarm on the box. It is likely they would open the box rather than overcome the pipe and set off the alarm.

[briandg]

Unless mine is a very unique situation, the newest phone boxes are already locked with heavy plastic and a wrench. It would have required a lot of effort to get through if a steel pipe had been run to the roof line or the line had run straight from the box inside.

The situation is good and weird. I would have likely handled that similarly.


Myself, that makes my skin crawl. everything about that just screams home invasion, not necessarily just burglary. Two am? cutting the lines, two cars in the drive, come on, what sort of idiot would assume that the place was empty under those conditions, and feel safe for simple burglary?

I have never seen a police presence just vanish after an event such as this, in my experience they always hang around near the affected area for an hour or so, it's not any different from being on simple patrol duty. sometimes they will even park at the site and wait, not expecting to catch the boogie men, just to deter them and make them leave the area.

At two am, it's usually correct to assume that people are home, sleeping, and that ringing a bell will just give them away. I honestly believe that you had some evil SOBs with intent to capture you in the home, not necessarily break into an empty place. The chances of it being empty at that time and conditions are so slim. It was strange.

I don't know if they will return. You have been warned, set on alert, unless they want you specifically, would they come back?

I'm going to assume that you aren't a bad guy who should be expecting such treatment, and that you aren't hanging around in a place full of evil dudes. Keep in mind that if these guys were smart, well, they'd have jobs and not do stupid stuff like this.

Two home invasions occurred here in a single night maybe a year or so ago, brutal and aggressive ones. They tied the family, had weapons, masks, etc, then figured out that they were at the wrong house. they left the home and went to the right one, busted the door in again, and had a party. I may be confusing this with another invasion, but a resident was just visiting. He was ordered to find the petty cash, and as he rummaged through the dresser, he found a gun and shot one of them.

[Lohman446]

Keep in mind that if these guys were smart, well, they'd have jobs and not do stupid stuff like this.

I think we err when we assume "right makes might" in a lot of these discussions. Underestimating those who wish you harm could be a major mistake.

Cutting the phone lines likely cuts off most alarm systems especially if one manages to get the internet lines at the same time. I would guess most of the self install systems are pretty dependent on a connected network and the monitored ones as well. A select few I have looked at do have cell capability but I guess most do not have or use it if they have it. It is the only "good" thought I can take out of the idea of cut phone lines.

MAYBE they thought the house was empty? Maybe. Still ringing the door bell, multiple times, tends to indicate that is not the case.

I'm with Brian on this one. Assess why YOU specifically may have been targeted.

[briandg]

many years ago, I heard my doorbell ring in the afternoon. I was working odd hours and asleep. It awakened me, I was not going to go downstairs to open the door for a pair of mormons. Then it rang again, and someone HAMMERED on the door. Not knocked, banged on it as if he meant to wake the dead. To do that he had to have already opened the storm door.

I was mad, really mad. I went downstairs, opened the door, and two guys offered to clean my gutters. I told them to leave. It wasn't until later than I realized that it was almost certainly a BE crew.

Awakened from a dead sleep, mad as a castrated bull, and not thinking clearly, I was unarmed when I opened the door to a pair of scruffy looking goons who offered to clean my second story gutters, yet had no truck and ladders. it takes a ladder that's over 25 feet long to reach them, you can't even carry one that big on a typical truck.

[In The Ten Ring]

The OP listed "nc" as his residence. If so, put your earmuffs on, sit back, let them come on in.

You'll need new carpet, maybe some new paint, but the problem will be solved and the neighborhood will be much better off.

**I'd have handled it the same way though, to a point. That point is, have you heard of "door jamb armor?" It's a steel plate you put into your door jamb, that screws back into the framing studs with 3.5 inch screws. Doors are easy to kick in because the dead bolt only goes into the soft pine of the door jamb. This makes the dead bolt far more effective and now, instead of kicking against a tiny area they are kicking against 80% of the framed doorway. They'll give up after a few kicks and go on to the house next door. Lowes carries it.

There is a film made by 3D that laminates windows like a car windshield. It's expensive, but cheaper than a break in. You can bolt bars over low windows and that usually works great as a deterrent.

In addition to your standard dead bolts, put in a second "double cylinder" deadbolt that takes a key on each side. That way, when they break in, they cannot go out a door, they'll have to go back out the window. It's hard to carry a big TV out a window.

B&E's have become much more common where I live due to the pill head epidemic. Talk things over with your neighbors and encourage everyone to alert each other and the police when they seen someone up to no good.

I'd suggest you stay home as much as you can for the next few weeks. If you don't carry a gun on you, correct that and start. If you don't stay on your toes at all times, correct that too.

[Double Naught Spy]

More info: I had two visible vehicles in the driveway. House must have looked occupied. Also, we have a local alarm system and their decals and signs all around the house. Were these guys just looking for a B&E? Or waiting for me to open the door and then push their way in? Cutting the lines seems kind of dumb since everybody has a cell phone, and our alarm system, like many others, communicates via radio signal to the monitoring station. A B&E with two vehicles in driveway at 2:00 in the morning with a house that has an alarm system that will make a lot of noise to the many close neighbors does not make sense to me. What in the hell were these guys up to?

Finally, after the two cops left, the guys did not leave the area. They must have been hiding in a nearby wooded area. They then went to a neighbors house and rang his doorbell. He answered the door, saw no one, and he had no other incidents that night.
The behavior of these people does not seem rational to me - maybe they were "chemically impaired" or perhaps just stupid. Any opinions as to their motive?

Just because you don't understand their motivations is no reason to assume that they were chemically impaired. It is not important that you understand their motivations and you won't know what they were without interviewing them. It could have been stupid kids doing pranks (they never tried entry at your place or your neighbor's). It could have been criminals.

Let's look at what you said. Two vehicles in the driveway, so your place looked occupied? Lots of people have multiple cars. You have 2 cars in the driveway and your wife isn't home. You could have just as easily been gone. What is to say you don't have 3 cars or 4? Maybe the cars in the driveway don't even run. Unless the bad guys are your neighbors or have been casing your place for a while, how would they know?

You have alarm stickers/signs all around your house from the local alarm company? Assuming the bad guys know what companies were local or not is an interesting consideration. Beyond that, my neighbor has a bunch of alarm stickers on his doors and windows and the little sign by the sidewalk proclaiming his alarm system. He has no alarm system.

Cutting the land line isn't dumb. Not everyone has cell phones and many alarm systems still work by land line. These guys were just upping their chances of hampering you or your alarm system, which did work since you had to fall back on your cell phone.

What I don't understand is that if you had an alarm system on your home and you thought you had people who might be about to break in, your land line phone being dead, why didn't you hit the alarm yourself. Your turned on lights to let them know you were home, why not the alarm? Lights don't make much noise. Alarm systems do. You said it doesn't make any sense to your about the cars in the driveway, alarm stickers, and alarm that will make noise, but you never used it to make noise. Why not?

Well, one thing that your bad guys apparently did want to know was whether or not you were home. You confirmed that for them and they didn't try to make entry. Your neighbor confirmed it at his house and they didn't try to make entry there.

[peterg7]

2am is bar closing time so I would guess amateur looking for opportunity, a hardened house, firearm and a cool head is best bet and that’s what you had.


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[doofus47]

Several random thoughts and questions:
1. I think you played this correctly.
2. Seeing you had 2 vehicles parked there, I would be betting on kids playing tricks. If it were a home invasion I would expect them to ring the bell and/or smash a car window to attract you out of the house. If the landline were cut, I don't know lots of people who would venture outside to check that in the dark. A car being vandalized might bring out the owners.
3. Are you sure the disconnected phone lines were related to this incident and didn't happen earlier?
4. I was talking to a local kid who "has friends" who break in to homes. Their MO was to ring bells or bang on garage doors and return to rob the houses where no one turned on lights (meaning: no one was home) or came outside. I can't imagine this is what was happening in your case b/c you had two cars parked at your house, but I mention this just to inform.

[Ricklin]

Bars on windows, security film, and double keyed deadbolts......

DO NOT hamper the ability to get the heck out when making certain no one can get in.

The primary reason I have a gun safe is not to prevent the theft of my guns and valuables. Fire is more likely.

When securing your home please keep the ability to get out paramount.

[briandg]

I have been wondering why the cars weren't bothered but I realized that it wouldn't be worth the effort. There aren't any cds, speakers are built in, stereos aren't worth stealing for the most part. There aren't any big ticket Christmas gifts, no drugs,no jewelry or hidden cash, nothing that would be valuable enough to break in in full view at two am. If they were thieves, it seems that they were more ambitious.

This event still baffles me. It seems irrational.

[briandg]

Re window bars, I believe that most building codes would not allow bars that aren't easily opened from the inside.

When I bought my current home I found bars on the basement Windows. The bars were formed right in the foundation, the foundation is poured concrete, and it's twelve inches thick. The bars themselves are one inch rebar. Seriously, one inch diameter steel. I haven't taken them down because there are two ways to escape.

[billvau]

Double Naught asked why I hadn't just hit the alarm buttom. He's absolutely right, that would have made a lot of sense. Just didn't think of it even though it would have been obviously the best response. It's very loud outside the house as well as sends a signal directly to my monitoring company via radio signal. I hate to admit it but I hadn't thought through these types of scenarios before. It's funny how you can overlook simple, obvious tools when your brain is racing , having just awaken in the middle of the night. We live in a nice area and had never had any problems before.

[In The Ten Ring]

I assume anyone smart enough to be on this forum is smart enough to know not to "be a rat in their own trap." That's why I figured (perhaps wrongly) the words "second deadbolt" were sufficient.

Double cylinder deadbolts work....there was an online article some years ago where a man came home to find his doorknob unlocked and he remembered locking that. He had double cylinder deadbolts.

He kept his head, went around the back of the house, to find a burglar bleeding out from a cut axillary artery. The man had broken into the house via that window, found he couldn't get out any of the doors, and tried to carry the loot out the same window, cutting himself and nearly dying in the process. The homeowner, being a better man than the burglar, applied pressure and called an ambulance along with police.

My advice is same as before, put in a second double cylinder deadbolt. That way when you are home you can leave the doubles unlocked and make getting out in an emergency easier on yourself. Some guys just hide a key but that's up to you. I'd put outside bars on lower level windows, but briandg has a point, if you live in a nanny state that may not be legal. NC isn't that far gone yet but I could be wrong. Basement windows, those placed at or very near ground level, are what I had in mind.
If you are a welder or know one, you could make up some for the inside but yes, by all means, you should be able to open those! How else will you clean your windows?

Put in floodlights all around the house, I think those are better than motion detection lights. I'd suggest an outside loudspeaker so next time you can speak to them without opening a door.

Never answer a door without a gun... and locking the screen door helps.

billvau, if we fail to plan we plan to fail. I hadn't thought of any of this until my house was targeted. It's very scary, more so if you can't be home all the time. It took me a couple of years to get over that first B&E attempt. I'll never fully get over it, PTS is a real thing.

Just do what you can and remember, all your house has to be is harder than the one next door. That's assuming it wasn't a "hit" on you personally and those do happen. No man is any good who has no enemies and sometimes they mistake you for someone else.

[Ricklin]

The vast majority of those who post here are smart folks. That said I have seen some posts here over the years where....
When the brains were passed out these folks thought they said trains and said they would catch the next one.

Last time I got ripped off was a smash and grab of my work car. It was an expensive experience. A number of companies install security film on car windows and it is tough stuff. Not a single vendor mentioned the importance of getting out of the vehicle. Just lots of blather about how strong their film was. I considered doing just the back windows, and decided against it.

[heavyballistics]

Get a camera system asap! I have a lorex 2k resolution system with 125ft color night vision, worth every penny!

https://www.lorextechnology.com/4k-i...KHDIP1688N-1-p

[Cheapshooter]

Also, we have a local alarm system and their decals and signs all around the house.

The one thing I disagree with. I don't want to alert a potential burglar of my alarm system so that he is looking for it, and a way to defeat it. I want them to find out when all hell breaks loose, and the police are on the way!
I have redundant alarms. One from an alarm company covering the house. Doors, windows, and motion. That one alerts the police in addition to the horn sounding.
The second one is a design of my own in the secured "storm shelter" (gun room). It doesn't alert the police, is powered independently from the house power, and the multiple horns are loud enough to alert neighbors, and in the room itself would be unbearable to an intruder.
As tor the 2:00AM doorbell, a call to 911 would be the first thing. Lights on throughout the house next. All while being armed.

[fastbolt]

You have any stupid pranksters roaming your area?

[hdwhit]

Any opinions as to their motive?

Drunk. High. Bored.

The fact they stopped ringing the doorbell and apparently moved on after you turned on the lights - but still had no certain knowledge that you were armed - suggests they were pranksters that weren't looking for any serious trouble. This is supported by the fact that when they moved on and tried it at another house and that person answered the door nobody attacked him or attempted to invade the house.