Someone broke into my house

queenbone · January 2014

I was at home with DS2 and DD. I saw a man come up on my back deck. I wasn't expecting anyone or any deliveries. As soon as I saw him I hopped up to grab a phone. As I did that he opened the storm door and then the back door and started to come into my kitchen. I was nursing DD and she was still attached to me on the MBF and DS was w/o pants because we are potty training. I ran toward the door to try to shut it to stop him from coming in and I shouted, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" He stopped, sort of spun around with a look like oops! and started to leave the deck. I locked the door and called 911 immediately. I was able to give them a description and the direction he was headed away from my house. This dumbass was wearing a football jersey. Maybe don't try to break into people's houses when you are wearing such obvious clothing? Within a couple of minutes I saw 2 police cars drive by my house, but no one ever showed up to take my statement. I called the non emergency number before I left to go p/u DS1 from school and I was told that they had taken someone into custody.

I'm a little frustrated with how the police are handling it. The message I received from the cop was that he had broken into someone else's house a half hour before mine. But 'this gentleman' was 'really out of it,' 'just a transient' and this was an 'isolated incident.' He's trying to get home, but he doesn't know where he lives. Um, WTF? if he broke into 2 houses how is that isolated? I don't buy this guy's story for a minute. Then after I called the cop back again because I wanted to file a police report, and frankly, expected them to come and dust for his prints on my 2 doors, I find out that he was also arrested on Saturday for disorderly conduct. But I really feel like the cop did not want to make a report, he made it sound like the guy was just trying to get in, but didn't actually get in. And that I should keep my door locked.

I'm so frustrated! We looked up his arrest reports online., He was arrested on Saturday, Sunday, and today. One of those days was for harrassment and drug possesion. He was wearing a very clean looking football jersey today, he did not look like a transient. And he was wearing a different outfit in one of his other mug shots. Again, I'm not buying this 'I'm trying to find my home, I don't know where my home is' story. But the cop is making this seem very benign. I have no idea how ,long he would stay in jail for this.

DH is going to be going out of town for work soon.

This could have ended very badly.

This isn't' the first time I've had an incident like this at this new house. I'm so sad. My dream house is a target for this sort of thing.

I have no idea how much of this I should disclose to DS1. I have been trying to stress that he needs to look through the window before he opens the front door, even if we are expecting someone, based on what happened last year.

Plus DD had her 6 mo shots today, so she's cranky and I need to nurse her constantly and can't put her down. While I was on the phone with 911 and DH in the front of the house, DS2 took a bottle of glue and smeared it all over the kitchen floor near the back door. Perhaps trying to set his own sticky trap in case the guy came back? More likely he'd been looking for an opportunity when I was distracted to get into it! So it was fun to clean that up on top of everything else.

Aargh!!!

I do know some mistakes I made as a SAHM that I'd like to share with you: I don't bring back the recycling and garbage bins after they get picked up NOR do I bring in the mail after it gets delivered. My excuse is I am usually bringing 2-3 people into the house and I don't have hands for that on top of all the other stuff I'm hauling. I let it be DH's job when he gets home from work. But I can see that I obviously look like no one is home yet. DH read online that the peak hours for break-ins to happen is between 12-4 pm. He broke in at 1:15. Also, even though my cat is in and out all day, I need to lock the back door behind him every time. I also will be pulling the chain on the front door to curtail DS2 flinging open the front door whenever he hears the doorbell ring, even though I'm chasing behind him shouting DO NOT OPEN the door!!

Thanks for letting me vent.

kzawisl · January 2014

Holy. Sh*t. How scary! I am glad you and LOs are ok!
And yeah, that cop sucks. I would call and speak to someone else tomorrow and make sure they take your statement.
Seriously, holy sh*t. I cannot even imagine.

pb_bride · January 2014

oMG, that is so freaking scary! I would have totally freaked out. I can't imagine this happening to me, let alone with several kids in the house with me. If you are getting nowhere with the local police, can you contact your local state representative, or better yet, your local news station or local news paper?

luvboston · January 2014

First if all glad everyone is safe. Cops will never come dust for prints unless there is a serious crime committed because the have to call out their crime scene team and its very expensive, most towns don't have their own.
Also police have certain regulars that circulate through their jails and typically they know whether they are a serious harm or not and have a mental illness. If you are unhappy with the response call the captain. However this is dicey because if you ever need help and you "told" on this officer he might not be inclined to run to you.

Also I think considering past issues etc you need an alarm that you turn on.

ccam · January 2014

How scary!! Thank god you guys are all ok!!

jessica_gail2 · January 2014

I'm so sorry. I would be flipping out. It's not your fault at all that the guy broke in. I would also be upset that they aren't taking it more seriously. Can cops keep you from filing a report? Such a weird situation. Thank goodness you and your LOs are ok. So so sorry you're having to deal with this!

fullfhope · January 2014

So scary, you reacted so quickly, good for,you and I'm so glad you are all ok.

phishgirl29 · January 2014

I second getting an alarm. How awful!

pinkmickey24 · January 2014

How incredibly scary! I am glad everyone is safe.

Mrs.AmyDylan · January 2014

I'm so glad you all are okay. That is totally freaky. Im so pissed that the police are being so casual. That is unbelievable.

TJ1979 · January 2014

Oh my gosh, how scary! I'm so glad you are ok. I agree with pp, is an alarm an option?

CarrieB. · January 2014

Omg, that is so scary. I'm glad you guys are all okay.

ForevAAROSE · January 2014

So sorry, yikes! That's a lot to deal with! That cop sucks!

Maybe getting an alarm system? My aunt had an issue similar to yours and my cousin was 3 and opening the doors to everyone. One day a saleman came to the door and she opened the door, the salesman took mh aunts wallet off of the ffoyer table right by the door (she had $4000 cash for a wedding deposit.) Long story short, she got the alarm that lets you know what doors are opening, she also pays the garbage man $20/wk to put her garbage bins by her garage.

Glad that everyone is okay, hope it doesn't happen again.

queenbone · January 2014

Thanks, ladies. I don't know how I'm feeling about this right now. :S

Robeano · January 2014

Oh my gosh!!!! I am so glad that you and your family are okay... but holy crap, so scary!!!!

Eve_Angelique · January 2014

So scary!!! I am so glad that you are ok!! Sucks that it isn't being handled in a way to help you feel more at ease.

Saraevh · January 2014

Woah! That is SO scary. I would be beyond pissed about how the cops are handling it too if I were you. We live in a really nice neighborhood as well and the neighbors across the street from us got broken into last Fall. A couple of weeks later our house was cased. I said eff this crap and we got ADT and installed cameras around the outside of our house. When DS3 was just over a week old my husband was warming up our van in our garage(with the garage door open) because it was below 0 and he was going to take the older two somewhere and one of our neighbors saw a guy hiding in our bushes watching our van. I was so confused when I saw a cop running through our backyard! They didn't ever catch him. Who tries to steal a van? Ridiculous. And it makes me so mad ... and creeped out.

I'm so glad you guys are all okay and nothing bad happened. That is scary!

queenbone · January 2014

I don't think DH is too keen on the idea of an alam system. I guess they had them i two houses when he was a kid and there were many kid induced false alarms. But I think we will look into security cameras.

mdiblasi10 · January 2014

I am so sorry. I'm so glad you are all okay. A home intruder is my biggest fear. I hope the cops can get him off the street. We had outside security cameras at our last house and really liked them. If you have a Costco, they have great kits.

Mnerani · January 2014

My heart is racing so hard just reading this. I'm so sorry!

kaf7 · January 2014

That is terrifying. I'm glad your kids are ok but that's so traumatizing for you. And I'm sorry the police aren't being more satisfying. I sort of agree with going to an ombudsmen or news station. But I also think that one of the pp comments about then the police not being keen to help your house in future might apply. Gosh that's tough. I'm so sorry.

TJ1979 · January 2014

queenbone said:
I don't think DH is too keen on the idea of an alam system. I guess they had them i two houses when he was a kid and there were many kid induced false alarms. But I think we will look into security cameras.

Sorry, but I think YH is wrong on this one. I would take 20 kid induced false alarms to prevent one home intruder with a gun. We are talking about potentially saving you and your children's lives. Worth a little inconvenience.

PrettyAccountant · January 2014

Holy shit that is scary! I'm so glad everyone is ok. Definately go for an alarm - false alarms are better than no alarms.

kbeach82 · January 2014

I'm so glad everyone is ok. That is beyond scary. It sounds like the police are being WAY too lax about this entire situation. I would definitely call the station to get in touch with the Officer in Charge and insist on filing a report.

I have to agree with TJ on installing the alarm. Yes, false alarms are part of owning one, but I think your DH needs to look at the big picture here - the safety and security of your family.

JBDamonM · January 2014

Huge hugs - I am sorry you are dealing with this. I'm also in the boat of the alarm though.... False alarms can be a pain, but I feel like it's something you could work through and get everything working flawlessly. I would definitely look into it.

mcgeeva · January 2014

That is so scary!!!! And shame on the police. I'm sorry having the two kids at home with you would freak me out even more because there is only so much you can do with your hands full! I feel like lately the cops just brush off stuff like this which is sooooooooooo not okay. I would definitely get a secuirty system in case. But that is just me. I have a dog I let out constantly but wiht DH traveling all the time lately it has given me some peace of mind. I have the app on my phone so I just alarm and disalarm while im sitting there or in bed etc. I defintely feel your pain..new house and incidents is the last thing you want to think about. Since we had the whole neighborhood breakins of sheds ands cars last week when we had the security system installed while DH was gone, 5 doors down there was a peeping tom. My husband was like what is going on in this neighborhood. We are only a mile from our old house WTF? But I guess it happens everywhere we just don't want it to happen to us. I hope it never happens again for you!

imoverit · January 2014

Holy cow that is so scary. Good for you mama bear for being brave.

Dragonfly1226 · January 2014

OMG! That is so scary! I am so sorry that the police are letting you down. I agree about getting an alarm. I would rather have my kids set off a false alarm a million times and have it there of the real thing than not have it when I needed it. I am so glad that you are all safe.

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