Was this a home invasion attempt?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

Neighbors posted a security cam video on Nextdoor showing two men at their front door around 9 pm. Both wearing hoodies over their heads (it’s in the 70s-80s F here - no one needs a coat). One hid around a corner of the house out of sight of the door about 15 feet away, while the other approached and rang the doorbell. After ringing, he also tried the knob. The homeowners saw both on the camera and didn’t answer the door. When doorbell ringer saw the security cam, he motioned to corner-hider and they both covered their faces and walked quickly away. The camera’s weren’t positioned to cover the street, so no auto information. Sorry, no links to video available.

With the increasing use of security cameras along with the Nextdoor website, I’ve been surprised at the amount of small-time crime even in our (supposedly) low crime neighborhood, but it’s always been opportunistic grab and run stuff. But now we’ve had a small gang whose MO was break into car, use garage opener, enter house to steal. They eventually broke into a house when the residents were home and fled, but one of the miscreants was recognized. No more info, but they seem to have stopped. I formerly wasn’t too worried, because it was all just property crime, but this latest does have me concerned. I can’t think of any other explanation for the above behavior, and home invasion is a whole 'nuther level of bad (imo).

Your thoughts?

#2

Yes. Why is there any doubt?

#3

I realize my previous answer may have been a little flippant, so let me describe the activities that raises my suspicions and causes me to think it was a home invasion/burglary attempt:

[ol]
[li]One person ducking around the corner[/li][li]Testing the doorknob[/li][li]Hiding their faces after noticing the camera[/li][/ol]

#4

I would think more likely to have been a burglary attempt. Ring bell to find out if anyone is home before breaking in. If someone answers the door, have some madeup cover story. If no one answers, proceed with burglary. Abort if cameras are noticed.

#5

It’s possible that this wasn’t itself an invasion attempt, but just casing the place for an invasion at some later time. But that amounts to about the same thing, and they definitely weren’t up to any good. It sounds like the camera did exactly what it was meant to do.

#6

I agree with BobArrgh. Your security system just paid for itself!

#7

Neighbor’s, actually.

#8

We had a spate of burglaries like this in my area, earlier this year. Well not exactly like this - the way it worked was two guys pulled up in a truck, one got out and knocked. If someone answered the door, the knocker would give a story about a lost dog. If no one answered, burglary time.

Our police chief made a plea for everyone to please answer their doors when someone knocks. He said it’s just safer to let people know you’re home, as burglars tend to not want confrontation, just easy in-and-out.

The burglars tried it again after our chief made the plea, and the next victim did come to the door. She also got the license plate of the truck and called it in and the burglars were caught. They’re being investigated for over 50 daytime burglaries in the area.

According to the article I read, the police had video and stills of the burglars but not enough to get a license plate or a definitive description. Video cameras didn’t help. They were caught because someone opened their door.

#9

Just regular burglars. Highly unlikely to be a “home invasion”.

(I am not happy about the media trying to scare everyone all the time.)

#10

I dunno…the second guy hiding around the corner is a common method for home invasion in my area. Sometimes they use a girl as the door knocker–she’ll be screaming about some emergency to get the home owner to open the door, then the hidden muscle attacks. Another reason I’m glad we have two large dogs raising Hell anytime someone comes to the door…

#11

In most cities the statistics show that there is generally no sudden increase. Rather, people are posting everything that happens–no matter how minor–on Nextdoor, so people think that there’s a crime wave. In response, they get a front door camera, and start posting every little thing on Nextdoor, and cycle continues.

#12

Attempted burglary more like it. Not everyone knocking on your door is trying to rob you, contrary to many of the people on Nextdoor in my neighborhood believe. There were a couple of campaigners for candidates that were canvassing the neighborhood that had 911 called on them three different times by paranoid neighbors.

#13

IDK, I think it was aborted robbery/burglary. Security cameras are a good thing if they stop one crime. The amount of box grabbers had gone up until these cheap cameras became available. I, for one am glad of it. Maybe the Nextdoor stuff is over the top. I am not sure how/what that is…

#14

It is a message board where folks in the neighborhood can bitch and moan, gossip and have things advertised to them. I subscribe to one covering my neighborhood in Parkhill. Oh, they also report and find lost pets. :slight_smile:

#15

I have to admit, I am kind of hazy on the distinction being drawn in this topic between burglary and home invasion. Doesn’t burglary involve invading the home?

#16

Legal definitions vary by state, but typically a home invasion involves the home being occupied by the residents when the crime occurs. Burglary can occur when the home is not occupied.

#17

‘Home invasion’ connotes a crime where the criminals are looking for a place where people are home, to gain entry by getting them to answer the door then threatening then with weapons or assaulting them, and/or to facilitate crimes they seek to commit (to tell them under threat where valuables are hidden if that’s all they are after, or people to hurt or kill for fun if that’s their intent).

In a ‘regular’ burglary the burglars are generally assumed to be looking for places where nobody is home. You might quibble about how to classify crimes where they intended that nobody be home, but somebody turned out to be. Not legal definitions, of course.

A one person ringing/one person hiding arrangement is very likely intended to make it more likely the homeowner answers the door than two people standing there. But as others mentioned, it doesn’t tell you if the idea was to rush the homeowner if they answered (home invasion) or make an excuse and leave if the home owner answered and only break in if nobody answered (regular burglary).

Home invasions are a terrifying prospect which is why naturally subject to irrational (along with possibly rational) fear. Where I live (in the NY area of the US), video door bells or not, home invasions are essentially unheard of. I can’t recall any crime in my small city in the last several decades fitting that description. Burglaries of places it’s reasonable to assume are empty, in the daytime almost always, are not so rare in condo buildings where almost everyone is young and works in the City during the day. Although on my particular block again there have been no burglaries either in decades, single family homes, people around all the time.

#18

Yes! I had this shit on the Facebook neighborhood page that I run. Somebody posted security cam video of what was obviously a campaign worker. It was a woman who came up to the door with a clipboard, tried to open the storm door in what I would assume is an attempt to knock on the door itself (it was locked), so she leaned around and knocked on the window. She waited about fifteen seconds, glancing at her clipboard, and when nobody came to the door, left. And about half the people responding went crazy, and I’m like, dude, it’s fucking campaign season. I’ve had three of these people in the last week collecting signatures. Calm the fuck down.

The OP’s case, however, no. That’s some kind of shit going down. There’s absolutely no question if it happened exactly as described.

#19

well the original LA home invasion was someone just kicking in the door pulling a gun and not giving a damn if anyone was home or not possibly shooting anyone there who wasn’t them ……

#20

can you imagine what’s gonna happen to the poor workers trying to take the census in '20 ?