Break-in attempt in the area

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine who lives about a block from the Square told me about an incident at his house this morning, and I figured a warning to others in the area would be a good thing.

My friend was woken up by the doorbell being rung repeatedly. After finally getting up to see who it was (no one was expected), he noticed two guys walking down the driveway, and went out to find out what they were up to. By the time he got outside, one dude was peering in the garage window, and the other had the back hatch to the house partly open.

When confronted, they gave some bullshit story about being called to install vinyl siding on a blue house at my friend's address - then the other pulled out a cellphone, "called" someone, and said, "Oh, wrong house. We really wanted number 27." Then they booked it out the driveway and headed down a side street, rather than continuing down the block towards where number 27 would be. Except there is no number 27 on that street, and no other blue house.

So it seems the guys are looking for unoccupied houses to break into. In broad daylight - this happened earlier today.

My friend called the cops right away and spoke to some detectives. Later, the cops had him come with them to ID two guys who were picked up in Cambridge after showing up on someone's doorstep "looking for directions" and not knowing anything. These guys are known and one apparently just came out of the can. And the detectives are pretty sure it's the same guys; they match what description my friend was able to give and were in the right area at the right time w/another bogus story.

They were on foot in both cases - two white guys, in their 20s, one of them bullet-headed (bald or shaved).

Some details about my friend's house have been changed to protect anonymity.

Comments

[cosinezero.livejournal.com]

So how did the ID go? ...

Scary stuff, thanks for the info.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

They seem to think the two guys picked up in Cambridge were the same two at his house, based on his description and the proximity in time and distance.

[cosinezero.livejournal.com]

Good, good. Hopefully that'll put a stop to it.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Yeah. But I don't know (nor did he, last I heard) what was actually going to happen to these two guys, since it wasn't clear if the halfway opening the hatch counts as anything they could be charged with.

And given the fact that one of the guys already was known to the cops, and didn't think twice about taking on a 2nd criminal career, I don't know that being caught again will necessarily dampen their enthusiasm for attempting burglary.

[cosinezero.livejournal.com]

I'm fairly certain that if the cops pick them up and have someone come identify them, that there are charges to be made. If they don't have a potential charge, they won't waste the time; also, if they're fresh out of jail to the point that the cops know them, likely they're still on probation and this could be enough to get them tossed back into the can.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

That would be excellent :)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this. It seems this is happening more and more lately...

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Yeah - although I hope it is actually just a case of more being reported than in the past.

[ron_newman]

This post should be tagged "crime". If you can add this tag, I'll tag other posts with it as well.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Sure, I'll give it a shot.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Oh, whoops - I replied from within email, not noticing this was not directed at me. Nevermind.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

shouldn't this be emailed to the mods to ensure they notice?

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

plumtreeblossom, to whom the comment was directed, is one of the moderators.

[eeyorecol.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the broad daylight house robbery is way more common than people think (my apartment was robbed while I was at work when I lived in Allston). People don't think much of watching someone walk down the street with luggage or shopping bags (both of which were stolen from my place as well)...

Thanks for the tip, though - I'm glad your friend and the cops were able to pick up those guys.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Ack, that sucks :( But you're right: if done the right way, it just wouldn't look as suspicious during the day, because what robber would be crazy enough to do that in daylight, when people will be watching? Ha. Riiight.

[larksdream]

So, there's one good thing. People looking to rob a house in daylight are deliberately picking an unoccupied target. Not fun, I agree, but still less awful than having someone break in at night while you're asleep.