Beware of door-to-door solicting

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  • SigMatt

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 17, 2007
    1,181
    Shores of the Bay, MD
    All,

    Had an incident here in AA County in Edgewater. There have been pairs of people wandering the neighborhood with clipboards, somewhat nicely dressed, knocking on doors and soliciting. The usual stuff like siding, roof repair, BGE Home and so on. My wife and I have a very visible sign on our outer door that says "No soliciting. Do not knock. This includes UPS, Amazon and FedEx.".

    I work from home and my office has blinds on it but I usually keep them slightly cracked. Early afternoon I hear a knock at the door and I see two men on my porch. Somewhat well dressed in polo and button down shirt, metal clipboards in hand. Apparently they can't read and I do what I normally do in such circumstances and ignore them and they'll usually go away without an answer.

    This time I heard a new sound...

    The sound of my doorknob being moved.

    The speed at which I moved was impressive. The rifle came off its rack, to my shoulder, I cleared the corner and it was leveled on the door, my finger on the bolt release. No further activity and after about 20 seconds at the ready, I approached the door at the low ready and saw the pair moving to the next door neighbor's house.

    I called my wife and she called the police. Two marked cars came out and interviewed several folks in the area. Including me over the phone. Turns out that several of my neighbors noticed them and several did mention hearing their doors being tried after the knocks including my next-door neighbor. There were two sets of people wandering through the neighborhood and we aren't sure if they were legit. I do not believe they were.

    So keep your doors locked, folks. We've been told by the police it is not uncommon for would-be thieves to dress up nicely, go into a neighborhood and pretend to solicit in order to case an area for later robberies. It is not common but also not the first time I've seen questionable characters wandering around without obvious purpose. Especially when claiming to represent various companies but not wearing branded clothing or have valid ID.

    Summertime brings more of this stuff out. Be vigilant.

    Matt
     

    XCheckR

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 20, 2013
    4,202
    HdG
    I always lock our doors and it drives my wife crazy but this is one of the reasons. Glad u were safe and made the call to the cops.
     

    Speedfreak

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Jun 16, 2021
    122
    I always thought it was overkill for me to carry at home but that contradicts all advice I read. Case in point!
     

    Glaron

    Camp pureblood 13R
    BANNED!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 20, 2013
    12,752
    Virginia
    Reminds me of the day in North Laurel.

    A shady guy trying to sell security systems was telling me mine wasn't good enough. I told em it was fine. He said he needed to look, put his foot in the door stopping me from closing it.... :shocking:

    I displayed my glock19 and told him this house has plenty of security. Leave.

    I think he left the neighborhood after that.
     

    ground chuck

    Rookie Jedi
    Sep 28, 2013
    4,174
    Charm City County
    I need to start carrying more at home especially when im outside in the woodshop. I usually have music blaring and have ear muffs on when running stuff. I've already had a neighbor surprise me once when i looked up and she's right there yelling about an oven fire.

    Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
     

    mpollan1

    Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 26, 2012
    6,559
    Мэриленд
    I need to start carrying more at home especially when im outside in the woodshop. I usually have music blaring and have ear muffs on when running stuff. I've already had a neighbor surprise me once when i looked up and she's right there yelling about an oven fire.

    Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

    Geez, I could see myself losing a digit. Yeah my outer wrought iron security doors are always locked. I need to:

    A. Carry in/around the house.
    B. Post no soliciting signs.

    Thanks for the nudge.
     

    Saberwalk

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 13, 2020
    79
    Laytonsville, MD
    OP, thanks for sharing. Moved from a condo to our house last year and cannot believe the number of solicitations we get for lawn, tree, window work etc. Did not realize the whole door to door was still a thing...

    Anyhow, some of these guys have been pretty aggressive, pushing through a clear "not interested" to continue with the pitch so that I am closing the door to terminate the discussion. I carry at home, but typically place the holster within reach behind the door when I open. Rethinking the subtlety since they are coming to my house, but don't want some knucklehead calling the police because I was carrying in my own home.
     

    ground chuck

    Rookie Jedi
    Sep 28, 2013
    4,174
    Charm City County
    Geez, I could see myself losing a digit. Yeah my outer wrought iron security doors are always locked. I need to:



    A. Carry in/around the house.

    B. Post no soliciting signs.



    Thanks for the nudge.
    Luckily i was outside just planning some boards. Ill normall work outside the shop if the weather is nice. I use a rolling table to move the crap around.

    Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
     

    GuitarmanNick

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 9, 2017
    2,221
    Laurel
    I usually have a gun in my hand and out of sight when answering the door to anyone I do not know, and was not expecting. My apartment door is pretty secure and always kept locked. Did have a couple of guys going through the complex a while back trying doors and robbed several units. Find it hard to believe that there are still people that cannot remember to lock a door.
     

    MaxVO2

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    I usually have a gun in my hand and out of sight when answering the door to anyone I do not know, and was not expecting. My apartment door is pretty secure and always kept locked. Did have a couple of guys going through the complex a while back trying doors and robbed several units. Find it hard to believe that there are still people that cannot remember to lock a door.

    *****One of my co-workers was robbed as he was mowing his lawn. He was mowing his backyard and left the garage open and the garage entrance door to the home unlocked and someone went through his house pretty fast and stole wallets, keys, the garage door opener in the car, and some jewelry.

    It takes some balls to go into someones home like that in broad daylight and do something like that. Dunno if the thief knew the house was otherwise empty but my co-worker was pretty shaken up by the situation and it cost him some money to change out the codes on the garage door opener and replace all of the controllers, change the locks on all doors, and do a bunch of other stuff the police suggested he do.

    I don't carry at home but have ready access to firearms very quickly most everywhere in the home, I have cameras and motion detectors that alert me when a door or window is opened, and it would be tough to just sneak in with the layout of my home if I am outdoors or anywhere nearby. The cameras have motion detect and send me a phone pic if a person comes to the front or back.

    I live in MoCo and people would flip out if they saw me carrying. I'd have to hire some of the finest legal minds of MDS to get me out of prison, and perhaps a taxidermist to have my dog stuffed...:innocent0
     

    JasonD67

    Active Member
    Jan 23, 2021
    180
    Annapolis
    I'm with you, I always lock the door and will not answer it for anyone I do not know. And I have a handgun or two laying around for instances just like this.
     

    Mack C-85

    R.I.P.
    Jan 22, 2014
    6,522
    Littlestown, PA
    This has been an issue for years.

    I was standing at a door to deliver a package (UPS) and observed the two clowns my customer was dealing with very obviously casing the place. This was a frequent stop and I advised the customer of my suspicions. She told me several days later that she had immediately relayed my suspicions to the PD and that both clowns were in custody and several thousands of dollars of stolen property was recovered.

    This was pushing forty years ago, so yeah it's been around.

    Sent from my LG-G710 using Tapatalk
     

    Alan3413

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 4, 2013
    16,928
    *****One of my co-workers was robbed as he was mowing his lawn. He was mowing his backyard and left the garage open and the garage entrance door to the home unlocked and someone went through his house pretty fast and stole wallets, keys, the garage door opener in the car, and some jewelry.

    It takes some balls to go into someones home like that in broad daylight and do something like that. Dunno if the thief knew the house was otherwise empty but my co-worker was pretty shaken up by the situation and it cost him some money to change out the codes on the garage door opener and replace all of the controllers, change the locks on all doors, and do a bunch of other stuff the police suggested he do.

    I don't carry at home but have ready access to firearms very quickly most everywhere in the home, I have cameras and motion detectors that alert me when a door or window is opened, and it would be tough to just sneak in with the layout of my home if I am outdoors or anywhere nearby. The cameras have motion detect and send me a phone pic if a person comes to the front or back.

    I live in MoCo and people would flip out if they saw me carrying. I'd have to hire some of the finest legal minds of MDS to get me out of prison, and perhaps a taxidermist to have my dog stuffed...:innocent0

    It's for this reason I always treat my garage entrance like the front door. I always lock it behind me.
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,178
    Sun City West, AZ
    In 1974 our home was burglarized. It turned out the same burglar hit a total of nine homes in the immediate area. What he did was go to homes that looked to have potential, then ring the doorbell...if someone was home and answered he would ask if they knew where so-and-so lived and leave. If no one answered...he found a way in. He eventually was caught...my parents got a lot back of what was stolen but not everything.
     

    MaxVO2

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    All,


    This time I heard a new sound...

    The sound of my doorknob being moved.

    The speed at which I moved was impressive. The rifle came off its rack, to my shoulder, I cleared the corner and it was leveled on the door, my finger on the bolt release. No further activity and after about 20 seconds at the ready, I approached the door at the low ready and saw the pair moving to the next door neighbor's house.


    Summertime brings more of this stuff out. Be vigilant.

    Matt

    ****Thanks for sharing this and great response on your part. Thankfully nothing really happened that was bad bad, only potentially bad. Something like this happening IME can sometimes point out errors in our home invasion or bad things happening plan that will hopefully be corrected on your part, or to make your response better, etc...

    I'm amazed at how flippant some folks are regarding this sort of thing, and they leave doors unlocked or garages open in an area with lots of people driving or walking by, etc.. I'd rather err on the side of caution and prepare for the worst, which will hopefully never happen.

    Cell phone or land line, firearm, shoes and some clothes you can put on fast if you have to vacate fast, etc.. can really be helpful if someone decides you are their mark today.
     

    Bullfrog

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 8, 2009
    15,158
    Carroll County
    ...

    Cell phone or land line, firearm, shoes and some clothes you can put on fast if you have to vacate fast, etc.. can really be helpful if someone decides you are their mark today.

    Or in case of fire, medical emergency in the middle of the night, etc.

    That is a habit I've kept after many GQs, man overboard drills, fire drills (and quite a few actual small fires), etc.
     

    JamesDong

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Aug 13, 2020
    3,260
    Duffield, Va
    Oddly enough after almost 2 years I had my first solicitor. One of those discount meat trucks, I sent him packing. The nearest PAVED road to me is almost 8 miles away. He commented on my 69 Mustang and left.
    Only a legitimate idiot would come off the beaten path to sell steaks to hillbillies that look like Snuffy Smith or the Clampets............ or he was a thief scoping things out.
     

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