Paranoid?

[Richard_FL]

Today saw a van parked in a wooded area near my neighbor's house. Since it was trash day I decided it was a good time to go collect my can from the curb. I get out there and run into the guy coming from my neighbor's house with a gas can in his hand. He tells me he had just run out of gas and wanted to know if he could borrow 3 dollars. He then asked me if the Smiths(I made up that name) still lived in the house he had just come from. The Smiths are my neighbor's but they never lived in that house and the 2 houses had nothing in common including the side of the street they are on. So I give the guy some money and he heads back to his van that had run out of gas and drives off. So what do you think guy just down on his luck or thief looking to rob my neighbors?

[Ron D]

i wouls say tonight would be a good night to sit on the front steps and load up the ol shotgun just incase never no what varmits will show up...you dont even need a license for them ya no......but yes seems pretty fishy to me
ron

[AlArchie]

Richard, I've been retired for 13 years, but at your second sentence my old "cop alarm" went off BIG TIME! He ran out of gas so he took a gas can to your neighbor's home (who wasn't there, by the way) to ask for some money for gas. Then after getting some money from you, jumped into his van and drove off in that van that just ran out of gas! Did I get that right? If you got his registreation plate number, get it to the local police or sheriff, or at least give them a description of the guy and his van as best as you can recall. It sounds like he is casing the neighborhood, for a burglary or worse.

Al

[Kenny_S]

Yep,, Hope you got the tag number. Probably stolen but I definitely would be locked and loaded tonight for sure. Make sure you have a throw away just in case, if you catch my drift.
I know ALA and HiHO, but,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Definitely would be on the outlook of anything out of the ordinary tonight. Well not just tonight, He may wait for things to settle down and then come back.

However, that was nice of you to give him a few bucks and one never knows when or how those angels appear.Smile

[Irish]

Reading your story and your experience I remember as a small child that something happened one evening in our neighborhood. I know now that one of the neighbor ladies said she had seen a Peaking Tom at her window.

Her husband called the neighbor who called the neighbors who called some more neighbors and pretty soon every man was outside with their shot guns or long rifles.

What I remember the most was the sound. The sound of a shotgun being closed is distinctive and loud. The sound of a dozen shot guns having the breach opened then closed again is startling.

By the time the police arrived, about a half hour later, it looked like an armed camp in our quiet little neighborhood ... but there was no PT to be found

As I look back now I know that today every Dad in that neighborhood would have been hauled away by the police for being armed. But back then we were maybe 10 or 12 years away from WWII, I think all the Dads had served time in the military and they responded by protecting their territory.

Susan

[squbrigg]

Not paranoid at all....he sounds real fishy to me. Report it and keep your eyes open. Better safe than sorry. Any time my car ran out of gas, it wouldn't start again till I put gas in it! A gas can will make a handy tool to break a window with, to get into a house.

Bob

[Just Carving]

Richard,

Call the police as soon as possible and tell them what you told us. They'll ask the right questions and get the right information, as well as talk to anyone in the area. You should ask them to step up their patrols in the area, as well as make sure that your neighbors are aware of what happened.

I know everybody is thinking thieves, but when I see or hear gas can, I think arson. Call it my paranoia after 25 years of working on the rescue squad side by side with firefighters and cops, but that's the way it is. There's a lot of nuts out there, and you just might have ran into one of them. Arson and vacant houses go hand in hand--for one reason or another.

If someone does not live in your neighborhood, and has no legitimate business in your neighborhood, and is acting strange or out of the ordinary, avoid them. Call the police and report whatever info you can. If you can get a license plate number, the color and type of vehicle, great. But avoid making contact with the individual at all costs. People are strange--you never know who just might be teetering on the edge and carrying a weapon--particularly if they are in the midst of committing a crime.

[Richard_FL]

Yea I did call the Police but it seems like the officer just blew me off. He talked alot about how homeless people used to put marks in out of the way areas to show they had gotten food or money at a home. I couldn't read him well enough to tell wheter he was taking me seriously or just trying to make me feel better.
I don't seem to have very good luck with cops I always get the one that is convinced that the person can't be found so not much point in them worring about it. That includes getting a revolver stuck to my head and then after finding a policeman being told there wasn't much they could do becasue they probably wouldn't be able to find the person that did it. Funny thing was it didn't take me and some friends very long to find him. We lead police to him(instead of dispensing our own justice) only to get to see him everyday the next semester because they couldn't find the gun.

[artolver]

I think he was down on his luck, surely a liar and possibly a thief. It was kind of you to give him some cash. I wouldn't be paranoid.
I would keep an eye on things for a while. Did he say thank you?

art

[Richard_FL]

I don't remember if he said thanks or not. Seems I have a problem with that sort of thing. Either that or my wife has come up with a clever way of getting me to do things. I'm always agreeing to or promising things I can't remember according to my wife Smile .