I live in a townhouse in a quiet area where there is hardly any traffic. I had just gotten home but had to bring in my trash and recycling bins inside the garage. I brought them in and was reaching for my cell phone in my purse to turn off my home alarm, when I saw a small white car go by, beeping their horn the whole time, until they passed my home on the left side. I turned off my home alarm and opened the side door so that I could close the garage door, but then wanted to empty the water receptacle from the heating unit and opened the side door and as I was about to empty the water on the garden, the same white car went by again - meaning they must have just turned around - and were heading toward one of the two main entrances of the townhouses where I live. I immediately closed the door and went inside. Should I just ignore it, or should I be concerned? I had never experienced this before and it made me uncomfortable. Any ideas please? Thank you!
I would call the police non-emergency number, tell them and ask for a patrol car to come by. I forget what term they use but they can sometimes easily do an extra patrol in your neighborhood.
If your townhouse is in a secured neighborhood I would definitely call to have the security patrol come by to write a report of suspicious activity. My area doesnt have that but a security company probably does it as a matter of course.
I’m confused as to why a suspicious car would draw attention to themselves by beeping at you as they went past. Maybe they were lost and wanted to ask you for directions or they noticed something and wanted to make you aware of it.
Or they wanted to draw you out and kidnap you. Report it to the police and be on the lookout for the same car.
I really admire how watchful you are of your neighborhood by the way. Also In the meantime it’s good to keep a heavy tool handy that you can use to fend off somebody if they happen to approach at your townhome this morning. It may not happen but it’s good to be ready if a criminal were actively casing your home.
I live in a country with a MUCH higher crime rate than yours.
I would just assume the small white car was stolen and was advertising that via the vehicle alarm.
I would turn over and go back to sleep, they have chosen the car they want to steal, and it is not mine.
Seems simple, if rather callous.
Liz1, welcome to the SDMB.
I’ve moved your post to the In My Humble Opinion forum, which is what it’s more suited to. You’re asking for advice, which belongs in IMHO. Factual Questions is more for questions of objective fact, like “Are some parts of the ocean saltier than others” or “Do all satellites eventually fall back to Earth” or stuff like that.
RickJay
Moderator
Thank you. Good idea.
Thank you, but I do not believe they wanted to ask me for directions, as they went by fast, just beeping all the way. And I will definitely be on the lookout from now on.
I carry a heavy tool in my car just in case, but this morning I did not need to go outside, so hopefully they are not planning on returning. Thank you
Thank you for responding.
If the described situation was intended as a hostile action towards Liz1 (which seems very unlikely), it comes across as a bizarrely inept attempt at menacing.
Maybe we’re becoming extra-suspicious of small white cars in the wake of the Kohberger affair.
Thank you so much Rick! This is my first post and I did not know where to post it. I am trying to learn.
Take care,
Liz
I’m having difficulty feeling the menace from a car that goes by my house beeping (the horn, I presume) and then turns around and comes back, driving by without beeping, and is not seen again. Beeping the horn feels much more annoying than menacing. In my neighborhood I would not think twice about it, especially not them turning around and leaving. Maybe they had entered your area by mistake. Maybe I’m missing some context here.
There’s nothing wrong with being alert, nor with taking precautions, but I would hate to live in fear of people driving by.
What is this exactly? My heaters haven’t had this, so I’m assuming it’s some different kind of heating.
So am I. Why would somebody up to something nefarious want to draw attention to themselves like that?
My guess is that they were there, by prearrangement, to pick somebody up, and were announcing to whoever that was in a rather annoying fashion that they had arrived. While they were out of your sight, they picked up whoever they were supposed to pick up, and then drove off again.