Had a big scare the other day that forced me to make some changes

[mav]

Several years ago I purchased a new house in an upscale part of Chattanooga.  My house is very private with the driveway going up about 500 feet on a steep hill into the woods. The house cannot be seen from the main road, which is one of the reasons I bought it.  The area is very low crime, and I thought the property layout was ideal for not having to worry about thieves and such.  The driveway and woods are natural deterrents.  I felt so secure that I had never thought of buying a safe or putting in an alarm system.  I had guns, knives, watches, etc... unsecured all over the house.  For almost three years nothing happened... or at least that is what I thought.

 

My 80 year old mother lives with me, and every now and then she would tell me that she thought someone had been in the house.  She would say stuff like she thought someone had taken a shower or slept in my bed.  Nothing was missing from the house so I would always dismiss it as old age and/or paranoia.  A few weeks ago on a Saturday she told me that someone had been in her van and there was a bunch of stuff in it that wasn't hers.  I dismissed her concern by rationalizing that it was more than likely my nephew's stuff he left in it when he borrowed it a month ago.  She didn't buy my reasoning and was adamant that someone had been in her van.  She wanted to call the police to have them fingerprint or do all the cool CSI stuff to figure out who was in it.  I told her that since nothing was missing that they wouldn't do anything at all, so there is no point in calling them.  I also asked her why nothing was stolen from the house (she would keep a backup house key in her van).  In the end, nothing was done.

 

A couple of days had went by and I had pretty much forgotten about things until I came home from work that Monday and found my sister and nephew at my house.  When I walked in the house I was informed that the police were on their way.  When I inquired as to why, I was told that it was because someone had not only been in my mom's van, but they had borrowed it by hot-wiring it and brought it back.  The stuff they left in the van was drug paraphernalia (gram-size baggies, drug residue, etc...).  When the police arrived, they investigated my mom's van.  It was loaded with drugs and drug residue.  Whoever borrowed it was using it as a party van or drug dealing.  They were grinding up Xanax pills.  Wow, just wow.  Nobody in our family is into anything like that.  Heck, we don't know anybody that is into stuff like that.  The entire situation was baffling, but it was also very scary.

 

We have no idea how often this happened, nor did we know if those people had been in my house.  There was a house key in the van, and my mom would swear that someone had been in the house from time to time.  The baffling thing is nothing has been stolen.  I chalked that up to sheer luck and good fortune.  The very next day I took off from work.   I met with security people to install a monitored security system for my house, changed all the locks on my door, installed motion detected flood lights, installed 4 sets of blinds in my kitchen, bought a 1000 lb. Liberty Colonial-50 safe, and commanded that no keys will be left outside the house. 

 

This entire situation has been so confusing, but as I said earlier, I feel very fortunate that I did not have anything stolen.  The other thing I will take from this situation is not to be so dismissive of my mother's concerns.  She still may be a little paranoid at times, but in this situation, she was correct in her observations.

 

 

[Sam1]

good choice in taking precautions asap.

[Oh Shoot]

That van situation is one of the most bizarre crime MOs I've ever heard of.

 

- OS

Edited January 28, 2016 by Oh Shoot

[rugerla1]

Glad nobody was hurt first and foremost. Secondly, glad nothing was taken out of the house. Agree with OS, the van being taken and returned is STRANGE! Sounds like you're headed in the right direction for feeling more secure along with changing habits.

[mav]

That van situation is one of the most bizarre crime MOs I've ever heard of.

 

- OS

 

Yep, you got that right.  I still don't understand their behavior.  The van is old and a piece of crap.  Why bring it back?  Heck, my mom drives my truck most of the time.

[Tedro2022]

Sounds like it may be a friend of the family. Would explain why the van is still around, and why nothing was missing from the house.
Could be wrong. It's happened before.


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[Trekbike]

Very weird. Are you sure nothing is missing? Sometimes people can steal stuff slowly enough that people don't notice.

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[Oh Shoot]

Yep, you got that right.  I still don't understand their behavior.  The van is old and a piece of crap.  Why bring it back?  Heck, my mom drives my truck most of the time.

 

Only "logical" reason would seem to be so could use it again. But then, not logical to leave obvious signs of using it inside,  especially drug stuff.

 

Just really odd, then again, drug addled kids that live nearby or whatever, who knows.

[Ski]

That is a bizarre and creepy situation. My first thought would be that it's someone that's been to, or even in, the house before--or a friend of one of those people. Maybe a delivery person or service tech of some type... Did the police indicate that the repeatedly "borrowed" van MO was not new to them?

[TripleGGG]

Sounds like it may be a friend of the family. Would explain why the van is still around, and why nothing was missing from the house.
Could be wrong. It's happened before.


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Very strong possibility.  Happens more than people realize.

[CommsNBombs]

Whoever it was is obviously half fried already pushing all those Xany bars in their system...

Maybe they figured it was only your mom living their and she wouldnt know any better

They will be back more than likely, perfect time to unleash your inner sniper and cleanse the gene pool

Damn druggies, at least you didnt get anything stolen or anyone harmed

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[Mike.357]

That van situation is one of the most bizarre crime MOs I've ever heard of.

 

- OS

 

someone you would not suspect, ever.  Been there done that.

 

Take a close look at family.   Just sayin....   

[Monkeyman2500]

Wow! That is a very creepy, strange, bazaar situation. I agree with others that it is definitely someone living with one of the neighbors.

[mav]

someone you would not suspect, ever. Been there done that.

Take a close look at family. Just sayin....

It is not family. I am quite certain of that. I have an extremely small family, and all but one live far away.
I think Mac was correct with what he said, drug addled kids. My mom would foolishly leave her van and at times, my truck, unlocked. My guess is someone happened to be traipsing through my woods one day and came up to my house. Oh my, the car doors are unlocked...and it all went downhill from there. Edited January 28, 2016 by mav

[gary_boom]

About 10 years ago my parents had a home invasion. The first thing the police asked me is if it could been any of the grandchildren.

[Possumslayer]

Strangest thing I've ever heard of!

[Erik88]

How bizarre. After having a house with a security system I'll never be without one. The peace of mind it provides while away from the house is worth the cost. I don't care how nice the neighborhood might be.

[Grand Torino]

That's one of the craziest things I've ever heard. Be on the lookout.....sounds like they will be back.

[Sunfish]

The reason I suspect they kept bringing the van back is they were walking home from your place. The camera's will hopefully let you get a look at them. You can pretty much say that whoever it is they have had brushes with authorities and are probably known to them. I bet if you went down to the probation Department and told them where you live a light will come on. People like this are either on probation for something or in jail.

[Gun Smith]

Similar situation happened to my father about 15 years ago.   My 80 something year old grandmother lived with him.   She was starting to lose it mentally so some of the things she would come up with were rather far fetched.   Like my swivel office chair used to be her barber style chair she used when she was a beautician and I stole it from her.  And my dads place is on the very outskirts of northern Davidson county, in a fairly rural area.   

 

One morning my grandmother proceeds to tell my dad that there was a man sitting in her car that night, which is parked under the carport by the back door.   Said she went out there and fussed at him but he wouldn't leave.  Said she called the police and they came and removed the man.   My dad was in disbelief.  He argued with her that there was no way that it happened.   Finally, to prove her wrong he called the police station.   I was all true!   The guy sitting in her car was strung out on something.  

 

I now believe anything is possible anywhere.  

 

Also,  as a somewhat humorous incident,  my dad received his invoice from Direct TV one month that was way more than his normal statement.   He called to investigate.   They said it was where he had be ordering some Playboy channel.   He denied it.  They argued well someone in the house has been.  He refuted saying the only other person in the house is his mother and she's in her 80's.  They dropped the charges.  

[tn high viking]

Bizarre for sure, but should give us all pause.

 

Unless you are an Odumbo cool aide drinker (if you are then ignore the rest of this post), we should expect more of this kind of thing.

 

Entitlement generation with no morals and easy access to prescription meds from their parents medicine cabinet and add to that the crashing economy which will make property crime increase and less and less scruples in our society about stealing.

 

And the Bernie Sanders crowd thinks the government should assist them in taking your property from you and giving to them.

 

People just don't respect other people's stuff anymore and I fear that is going to get a lot worse.

[Dolomite_supafly]

And to make things even scarier. Can you imagine trying to tell the cop that just pulled you over that all the paraphernalia and residue was not yours or your family's? Could take away your right to vote, defend yourself with a firearm as well as your freedom.

 

I know if I pulled over a car that had drugs or paraphernalia in it and the owners told me the drugs in their car wasn't theirs I would laugh as I took them to jail.

[peejman]

Glad it was fairly benign.  As per Dolomite's advice, I'd clean the truck really well too. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

Carry a copy of the report from the police with the vehicle. That way if a dog ever alerts on that vehicle you can show them why. Canine search dogs should not alert on Xanax, or any other prescription drug, but you never want to take a chance.

[jgradyc]

While it sounds like you've done a lot in the way of security, have you considered a gate on the driveway?