Caught an Intruder

   / Caught an Intruder #1  

MasseyWV

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Rather, I should say that I almost caught him.

To make a long story short, I had just walked over to my garage to work on my tractor when my wife called for me in a somewhat urgent way. Oddly enough, she wouldn't simply tell me what she wanted, but opted to run over to the garage to tell me instead.

As it turns out, she had been standing on the back deck of our home when she heard someone cough but she couldn't see anyone, at least not until she heard a branch snap under the weight of someone's foot which immediately drew her eyes to a man wearing a black shirt standing at the edge of our property. Knowing he had been seen, he immediately made a hasty retreat.

After learning what was going on, I ran to the house to get my pistol (for my protection) and went looking for him or some clue to where he may have went but saw nothing. I also called the police (more than 3 hours ago), but they have yet to show up. How's that for protection?

Our property is very private and it cannot be seen from the road due to a wooded area between us and a large field adjacent to our property. I'm certain the guy had ran off towards the field but can only speculate as to which direction he went after that.

The guy could have been standing there for a long time and I can only speculate what he was up to, but given the location where he was seen and it's view of our home and my garage, he had to have been either perving or casing our home for theft, probably the latter. That, and I strongly believe whoever it was had to have known the area very well, probably being a local.

Given our secluded location, we always knew that there was the possibility of something like this happening, and now that it has, I want to take measures to protect the perimeter of our property and perhaps even catch whoever it was if they are stupid enough to come back. Several possibilities come to mind, but suggestions are welcome.
 
   / Caught an Intruder #2  
Sounds like you don't have any dogs?
If not get a couple......they'll give you a excellent early warning of intruders.
 
   / Caught an Intruder
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Sounds like you don't have any dogs?
If not get a couple......they'll give you a excellent early warning of intruders.

Actually I do have dogs, but oddly enough they didn't make a sound, probably because they were as unaware of the intruder as I was, or at least that's my theory anyway.
 
   / Caught an Intruder #4  
Given our secluded location, we always knew that there was the possibility of something like this happening, and now that it has, I want to take measures to protect the perimeter of our property and perhaps even catch whoever it was if they are stupid enough to come back. Several possibilities come to mind, but suggestions are welcome.

You need to protect yourself against the intruder by being prepared. In order to do so, without putting yourself in legal jeopardy, educate yourself on the self defense/trespassing laws in your state. When you hear glass breaking in the middle of the night you aren't going to have time to logon onto the Internet to study your rights or drive to the store to buy a gun. You need to have a plan of action backed with the resources and mental confidence to execute that plan. Forget about catching the guy, that's TV/movie BS. In real life confronting a stranger with the intent to apprehend him is dangerous and foolhardy. That job is for the police.
 
   / Caught an Intruder #5  
Look into some security cameras with infrared lights, dvr, motion detection, and maybe a trail camera.
 
   / Caught an Intruder #6  
Is it against the law to stand on the edge of someone's property? Creepy yes, illegal, probably not, at least as far as your rights are concerned. There is that to consider in whatever actions you would plan.
 
   / Caught an Intruder
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Is it against the law to stand on the edge of someone's property? Creepy yes, illegal, probably not, at least as far as your rights are concerned. There is that to consider in whatever actions you would plan.

They weren't merely on the edge of my property, they were on my property which is clearly marked. In other words, they were treaspassing.
 
   / Caught an Intruder #8  
These work well.
They have a door bell mode and can also be set to silent and to call a phone number, like your cell.
 
   / Caught an Intruder #9  
I ALWAYS pocket carry a KelTec PF9. Comfortable, American Made, fits front pocket of every pair of pants I own, extremely small and light. That way, I don't have to run to get personal protection. If I'm wearing pants, it's there, trust me. You won't notice it, but it's there. Threaten me with deadly harm, and you will see it.

What about a couple of the new game cameras which do NOT flash visible white or red light yet operate at night??

Call 911 with your emergency. If no one shows in a reasonable time, call back and tell them you have a body on the premises, while being vague about it being dead or alive. After all, both you and your wife are live bodies!! I can tell you from personal experience when I called and reported a body (actually dead), it was less than 5 minutes before LEO's started showing up.... something like 15 vehicles in all in the end.

Put 911 on everyone's quick dial.....thus all subsequent sound is reported to 911 and recorded....call and don't hang up....they are reluctant to hang up on you.

Get a bunch of dummy camera mounts.....put them in obvious locations....should be a deterrent to some people.

Remember that cell phones typically have a camera....given an encounter, a phone taking photos of the encounter should be a deterrent...practice whipping out the phone and snapping a photo extremely rapidly....unless carrying the aforementioned kelTec PF9

Nothing is fool proof, but hopefully you can harden the perimeter and identify intruders, call LEO's and defend yourself if required.
 
   / Caught an Intruder #10  
Geese are excellent watchdogs and nothing gets by them. Dogs sure help as well.
 
 
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