Security Protocol in a Now Unsafe Area

[David in MN]

At least you have *some* good neighbors, David.

The vast majority are good people. Like anywhere. And the cold deters crazy.

I honestly have no idea what is going on. I have a list of 18 license plates of people who *I think* don't live there. It's just crazy. And not like my neighbor to the North who does dog grooming (who we love). It's random hours and odd people in and out.

I hate to say it but I'm putting the wheels in motion to talk to the owner. The renters today showed up in 3 cars, swapped them, and got in a yelling match in one where they drove up and down the drive something like 14 ties. I get having an argument with the spouse (God knows we've done it) but the behavior pattern is bad.

[David in MN]

And today I get jolted up from Lite Brite because of the sound of screeching tires. Now he's peeling out in a van going 60 on our dead end and she jumps in her Dodge and quite literally gives chase at about the same speed. Almost hit the mail lady.

We're now preventing the kid from walking in the road. I hate to admit it but I've been looking at the police phone number. We had a high speed chase on a dead end road that's 1/4 mile long.

I swear I wouldn't believe this stuff if someone told me. Why would you drive like that in a suburban cul-de-sac?

[CharlesH]

I suspect the mail lady reported this one for you.

[Morning Sunshine]

I suspect the mail lady reported this one for you.

and if not, have a chat with her tomorrow.... let her know that you reported it, and ask her to do the same so that it is coming from two separate persons, even if it is just one incident.  There will be two reports.

[iam4liberty]

Ugh, sorry you are having to deal with this.  IMO, this is too far to be tolerated.  Wreckless driving needs to be reined in before some kid gets run over.  If not police, multiple neighbors need to notify the owners so they know if they don't do something they are exposed to negligence.

[David in MN]

I'm up to 33 license plates. And to make matters worse I think I just witnessed them being robbed. Not sure how to interpret strangers showing up and taking powertools other than that I'm glad my shop is closed.

And we're getting cameras. At a certain point you just have to. They're inviting a criminal element for sure.

Had a fun conversation with my retired black neighbor the other day. I think he said, "There ain't nothing in this world that compares to white trash". I replied with my favorite Kid Rock line "You're straight outta Compton? I'm straight out the trailer." We had a good laugh.

At least the neighbors are on to it. We've got a couple that work from home, a few retirees, and me. Oh, and you'd be surprised but families with small children (we have 5) like a placid environment. So in one sense the eye of Sauron is working.

[Stwood]

So did they haul out machinery or just hand related tools? Skilsaw....etc...

[David in MN]

I saw shop heaters, a drill press, and a chop saw go into a car I don't recognize by guys I've never seen before. It could be a situation where he is gone and she's Craigslisting all his crap. I don't know and I don't want to get involved. But if the police show up I have the license plates...

It's a bad situation anyway I look at it. We live on a quiet dead end with one crazy house where the police show up every so often. Take that one step further. I'm on a boring dead end of a boring suburb commuter community. It should be the most boring place on planet earth. And that's what we want be it our white, black, Indian, or gay neighbors. I have lent my carseat so my neighbor could drive her grandson home. We're a tight community and I want the best for all of us.

One sad lesson of life is that bad people will escalate until it becomes unsustainable. You don't typically go to suburban MN for your whoop whoop wild times. I don't really care who you are if you tend to settle here because you want the boring life.

There's a real odd bias with us scandies... We don't give a shit if you're white, black, blue, gay, undefined, etc. as long as you don't cause trouble. The second there's trouble um....

[LvsChant]

Wow... such a bummer to have to worry about this. But... on the bright side, it does put you and your neighbors in a more watchful and less complacent mode. Hoping their crazy-town stuff doesn't spill over into violence in your neighborhood...

[iam4liberty]

Sad to say, that sounds like a drug or gambling debt came due not a theft.

[David in MN]

He's been back. Uneventful and I even superficially chatted with him the other day while shoveling.

Then today. They like to park their cars in the cul-de-sac because at any given time they have between 0 and 7. They had 2 in front of my house overnight. This morning I hear yelling and pounding. He's in one car which is running and she's on the hood screaming and pounding on the windshield. Like 30 feet in front of my bedroom. Yeah, I got pics. He must of convinced her that he would let her in because she hopped off and tried the door at which point he threw it in gear and tried to go. She jumped back on the hood (ripping out a wiper in the process) and he drove the car back to their drive and up it where he put it back in park. Stalemate.

Something must have happened because I left to make sure the kid's OK (and put on a gun) and then as I'm delivering a snack I hear more screaming. He's in the second car in front of my house and she's on the hood again. More of the same and he puts it in gear and starts revving. In a VW GTI... I'm sure the whole neighborhood heard it. Well they stalemate again and after while he drives with her on the hood in front of their drive and sit with her curled up in a ball on the hood. Mind you it's been an hour and it's -7.

Eventually he runs inside and she runs after. 20 minutes later and he's back in the second car peeling out. At least this bout is over.

I'm not the one to call the police but... I don't like the idea of driving with someone on the hood. And they just had a domestic 15 feet from my drive. While I'm calling my wife advising her about security protocol because I expect her any minute. She was thankfully delayed but we'll have a talk about what to do going forward.

[David in MN]

How does a crackhead move a broken car? Well in a few easy steps:

1) Put broken car in neutral.
2) Get working car close behind.
3) Squeeze an inflatable exercise ball between the two vehicles.
4) Use the exercise ball and working vehicle to push the broken car up the drive.

Now a normal person would (maybe) just shovel the drive and push the car. Especially with your 2 friends. But nope. Didn't even have someone in the broken car.

Ish.

[Stwood]

Hmmm. Well normal people ( I think I'm kinda backwoods normal  ) have done those tricks.
Can't count the number of times I've used a tire instead of a squishy  exercise ball. Truck-tire-tractor

Poor people have poor ways

 

[David in MN]

Hmmm. Well normal people ( I think I'm kinda backwoods normal  ) have done those tricks.
Can't count the number of times I've used a tire instead of a squishy  exercise ball. Truck-tire-tractor

Poor people have poor ways

 

We've all done goofy stuff out ice fishing or when emergency demands. God only knows the crazy things I've done with come alongs, bottle jacks, and ratchet straps. But dude... It's a 10 yard drive. Shovel it and push the car with a hand on the wheel. You got 3 adult males and 2 adult females. It's not in the "we gotta git er done" kind of mode.

I also learned (while writing this) how a crackhead answers the door when papers are being delivered. You don't open the door on the split level; you open the window and shout down.

[Stwood]

I also learned (while writing this) how a crackhead answers the door when papers are being delivered. You don't open the door on the split level; you open the window and shout down.

Out of range.....

[Pathfinder]

David, I certainly feel for you in this situation. When I lived in a small town just west of Fargo, we had a very similar situation 3 houses from me. This house, occupied by a seemingly cyclical group of imports (thanks Lutherans!) who accounted for 90% of the police calls in my entire (small) town. Usually once every 2-3 weeks there were any number of police cars in front of the house dealing with something.

Recommendation: talk to the local beat cops, don't call it in. You want to talk with someone who has personal knowledge, not some pencil pusher in the office. I took the county Sheriff's Citizen's Academy to get to know procedure and staff. Got on a first name basis with the local deputies who patrolled our town. I also chaired the town's Planning and Zoning Committee which helped establish some cred with the deputies as well.
When you have cars being pushed without a driver in the broken car or cars driven with screaming women on the hood - and you're not on Daytona Beach in Spring Break - calls the cops. They respond and record everything.
Unless, of course, you're the dispatcher I got in Illinois years back who, in response to me reporting 3 kids smashing windows in a local shop, "Do you want me to send a car?"   

[Everson]

Nasty situation indeed. Seems to me that all you can do is just call the police. That's pretty much what it boils down to when you think about it.

[David in MN]

OK, an update. Things are as crazy as ever. It's still a carnival of comings and goings. I have 63 license plates.

We bought the house in 2006 and we wouldn't lock the doors to walk to the local park. We were kind of the type who left the front door open and put red wine in coffee mugs for a quiet walk around the local pond.

Fast forward and we have a "locked door" protocol, guns secured but available in every room, floodlights, trailcams, and restrict access to the street for our child.

I suppose from a prepping standpoint we're much better now but we bought this house because it's on a sleepy cul-de-sac in suburban MN where nothing bad should ever happen. We get the usual stuff like teens smoking a little pot and necking in the car but nothing that's a legit risk to anyone else's well being. We lived downtown in our early 20s for school and my wife has been mugged and we did all the security stuff then. We moved here because of the safety and I like living in a blind spot. My wife grew up on a pretty major thoroughfare and she was very keen when I suggested raising a family on a secluded dead-end.

All the neighbors I have a good relationship with (we have a couple who are a little cold and distant but not a problem) are noticing. We used to have kids play in the street and now it's all backyard. It is what it is.

[Stwood]

.

[LvsChant]

Sorry to hear about this, David... it is a lesson in the damage that can be done with just one house in a neighborhood...

[Gamer]

..Two houses down there is a problem...

Two houses down? Look on the bright side, at least there's a house between yours and theirs..
Seriously though I wouldn't worry about what might or might not happen unless it DOES happen.
Meanwhile just chill, because to quote Roosevelt you "have nothing to fear but fear itself"..

[David in MN]

Things have calmed down.

The "eye of Sauron" effect is magical. We have at home parents and retirees watching everything. Really hit home a few weeks back when the police raided a house a block away. I don't know the story but they up and left and the house sold.

Our "crazy" neighbors got the message. The house between us? Yeah, she's a retired grief counselor for battered women. I guess she said something and mentioned that my kitchen window looks out on their drive and I see all because I am a devout cook. The neighbor across the street will openly give them a finger.

Something changed internally as well. He no longer drives and she suffered a broken leg from falling on ice. They're a little quieter these days. It's not outside the realm of normal for a couple to have his & her cars or do the "I'm having another glass of wine so you're driving home" but he hasn't driven a car in weeks and he works on cars for fun so something hit the fan. Maybe they got cleaned up and the dark days are over. That would be good.

I did not anticipate the effect of public scrutiny. A few of us put up trail cams. A few called the police and gave statements. At least one said "my kid is not allowed to play with your kid". Whew. It became a powerful force. Maybe we muscled them into normalcy.

[ChEng]

I'm glad to hear that things are getting better.

However, don't forget: "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Freedom" - The sign in front of my work at the 678th Air Defense Group (a NORAD unit - we maintained air defense radar coverage over the south-eastern quarter of the US during the cold war) had that as our motto.

[whatmecrazy]

Just read the whole thread..  Wow brother, that sounds like an experience.  I lived next to that once...  ONCE.  I don't live in the suburbs anymore.  Just moved onto 2.5 acres an hour from Denver.
Glad to hear it got better.