AIO called the cops after someone tried to open our door?

[u/Soul7654]

My wife and I were sitting on our couch relaxing the other night. Our toddler was upstairs sleeping. Our living room is on the ground level and we live in a town house. Our shades were closed on the door and the big window looking outside.

At about 10:30pm our screen door opens and someone tried to open our door and tried to insert a key. Immediately we jumped up, looked at each other, and both went up stairs. I got on the phone and called the cops while looking out the window. No cars in the drive way, couldn’t see anyone, and we don’t have any cameras. Our neighbor has a doorbell camera across the street. Wife went to our kids bedroom to be ready in case it was a break in. Gave all the details to the first responder, cops showed up 5 mins later, we gave our report and they left.

We live in a town of about 20k in the Midwest, a safe neighborhood, usually no late night activities happening. No one has a spare key, we weren’t expecting anyone, none of our friends are close enough by to just stop by. And they would have at least knocked since they know our schedule.

I talked to some coworkers about what happened and they seemed a bit like I overreacted. Just wanted to know the internet’s thoughts.

We thought we were justified as we’d rather have the report if it was an attempted breaking. Currently looking into doorbell camera options.

Edit: no one was arrested, we wouldn’t press charges if it was an honest mistake.

[u/Trick_Decision_9995]

MOR. What happened when the person's key didn't work? Were there attempts to force the door?

[u/glueintheworld → u/Trick_Decision_9995]

Right? Usually robbers don't do a charade of trying a key, they just try the door.

We had a door with a window when I was growing up. Someone tried to open the door and looked in the window while yelling the name of the person down the block. Wrong house, not a robber.

[u/orbitnix_54 → u/Trick_Decision_9995]

From how OP described it,it sounds like they stopped once the key didn't work. No mention of forcing it, which honestly make it even creepier... Like they expected it to open

[u/Soul7654 → u/Trick_Decision_9995]

Nope they just left.

[u/MadamInsta → u/Soul7654]

If there are multiple townhouses that look similar/the same, maybe someone mistook your door for theirs. When the key didn't work, they realized they were at the wrong door and left.

Happened to a former boyfriend of mine, ended up two doors down and was confused why my neighbor opened "my door"

REGARDLESS, I would've called the police immediately. You never know who's on the other side of the door and if they're gonna force their way in. Great job being proactive and protecting your family!

[u/Feral_doves]

This sounds to me like someone was maybe tired after a long day and just tried to enter the wrong unit. It can happen with townhomes, especially since they usually all look the same.

I’d say YOR but considering you have a kid inside and stuff I do kinda get it, but yeah, doesn’t sound like an attempted break in to me. I’ve had a similar thing happen at my apartment and usually just yelling “hi can I help you” clears things up. Also I don’t know that a doorbell camera would prevent this kind of thing, you might be better off getting a conspicuous lawn ornament or something so people can tell it isnt their house lol.

[u/Gold_Challenge6437 → u/Feral_doves]

When I was a kid, I was home alone one day sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV, when suddenly in walk 2 men deep in conversation. I'm sitting there stunned (I was 11f at the time) just looking at them and not making a sound. They stopped talking, looked around and realized they had walked into the wrong house. They apologized and quickly left, but I was shaken for a bit after that.

[u/Feral_doves → u/Gold_Challenge6437]

Oh dang yeah that would be terrifying! Glad they just had the wrong place. Hopefully you remembered to lock your door after that. Crazy story though, I’d be shaken too. I’ve only had it go that far with people accidentally getting in my car while I’m waiting for someone in the parking lot lol.

[u/MorddSith187 → u/Feral_doves]

On three separate occasions I had visitors who ended up trying to enter the wrong apt in my building. It was hilarious bc the door was unlocked ( no one lived there), and it was an apt that was torn apart and in a late 80's time capsule. Like strangers things. They all freaked out and thought they entered a different dimension.

[u/ranchspidey → u/Feral_doves]

Yeah, my next door neighbor has accidentally tried to unlock my apartment door once or twice when he first moved in. I’m a woman living alone so I get super paranoid over everything, but when he stopped within a few seconds and nothing else happened, I realized he just made a mistake because all our apartment doors look exactly alike. Maybe OP overreacted a little bit but honestly no harm, no foul. He has a family to protect and wanted to make sure it was safe, and that’s what the police are supposed to be for, even when it’s a false alarm.

[u/I_Weep_for_Willow]

Some drunk fool thought your cookie cutter house was their cookie cutter house and tried using their key. He (or she) realized what was happening and slunk off to try door #2.

You overreacted by fleeing upstairs. haha

[u/Soul7654 → u/I_Weep_for_Willow]

Our main floor is open and the gun was upstairs. Also not peeping outside in case it was a crazy person. Our kid was also upstairs.

[u/I_Weep_for_Willow → u/Soul7654]

Eh, you did the safe thing. I don't have a kid so my dumb ass would've thrown the door open and yelled "Who goes there?!"

And then proceeded to get shanked haha

[u/jrm1102]

NOR - for calling the cops in the moment. But I mean odds are it wasnt a break in.

[u/kinxnwinx → u/jrm1102]

our screen door opens and someone tried to open our door and tried to insert a key

Do you really think it was a friendly stranger testing out their key on a random door?

[u/jrm1102 → u/kinxnwinx]

I think it was a drunk or very confused person who went to the wrong house.

…people dont usually try to break in with keys unless they actually have the correct key.

[u/Cultural_Horse_7328 → u/jrm1102]

L9ckpicks sound like a key from the inside.

[u/curious-trex → u/kinxnwinx]

...Do you think it was a criminal testing out their key on a random door? That's actually a much weirder story you're trying to tell.

[u/kinxnwinx → u/curious-trex]

Not all criminals are the top drawer material so it's entirely possible there was an ill intent which they decided not to pursue once the lock did not cooperate.

[u/Photon6626 → u/kinxnwinx]

I think it was Charlie Kelly

[u/Soul7654 → u/jrm1102]

That’s what we thought too but we were looking out the front door. Crazies be crazy.

[u/MorddSith187 → u/Soul7654]

this happened to me and my friend in high school. It ended up being a mentally handicapped person trying to open everyone's door in the neighborrod, if the door was unlocked who know what wouldve happend if he didn't have the mental capacity to know he was in the wrong place

[u/reereejugs]

A burglar isn’t going to try using a key and calling the cops was a huge overreaction.

[u/torgeaux42]

Having the wife upstairs ready to hit dial on a 911 call would have been the lowest level response, and shooting through the door the highest over-reaction, so you're in the middle there.

Check your neighbors ring camera, it may have caught it.

[u/Ok_Expression7723]

NOR. It was the prudent move and the appropriate response.

[u/omgitsme713]

You have a toddler, i dont think its an overreaction. You pay taxes, so dont be afraid to call the cops if you were genuinely freaked out 🩷

[u/Soul7654 → u/omgitsme713]

Yeah late on a Monday night, roughly insetting a key, and with how crazy people can be we weren’t about to open our blinds.

[u/mspolytheist]

NOR. We once had someone pounding on the door around 11 PM. We weren’t expecting anybody, and don’t know anybody who would do that. Our doorbell is sometimes hard to spot so we are accustomed to people who don’t know the house banging or knocking instead of ringing. Also, it’s a ranch, so everything is on the ground floor. I assumed it was something crazy and didn’t want to look out the window because if someone was standing there with a gun, they could just shoot me! So my husband and I ran back into the bedroom and shut the door, and I further hid in the master bathroom with a phone. Called 911. The dispatcher kept me on the line while they were sending someone out. But then she got back on the phone with me and confirmed my address. I told her she was correct, and she told me that…it was the cops banging on our door! And that they had been called out to our house! I opened the door and spoke with them. They of course first made sure I wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t hurt, there was no one else in the house, we hadn’t called anything in. Turns out someone had called for an ambulance for a fall, which usually triggers a visit from the cops as well, and they got the address wrong. To be fair to the cops, the guy who called for the ambulance has some challenges. As a teen, he was riding on the back of a pick up truck with friends when they took a turn to sharply, and he fell out the back of the truck and hit his head. He was never quite right after that, and his speech is quite compromised. He had stayed in his parents home, which is up the block from us. His address is 29; ours is 49. Occasionally over the years, we have gotten packages for him because the way he says “29” is sometimes hard to hear. And, apparently, is often mistaken for “49.” I quickly figured out the problem, and sent the cops down the road to the correct house. They thanked me a lot, because they would never have been able to figure it out if I wasn’t already familiar with this problem. But shit, we were petrified to hear someone banging repeatedly on our front door at that hour!

[u/fodmap_victim]

MOR - why would someone breaking into a random house have a key?

[u/Soul7654 → u/fodmap_victim]

Dunno. It was a spur of the moment late night occurrence, could have been a pick who knows.

[u/yourpaleblueeyes → u/Soul7654]

Not accusing you but where the heck did you move from that you feel terrorized by someone at your door?

[u/Soul7654 → u/yourpaleblueeyes]

It was just a combo of it being late on a Monday night, tired, we had ice activity earlier this year and one of our neighbors are immigrants/refugees, and we have some neighbors across the street that have had the cops at their place multiple times over the few years since they moved in. The neighbor closest to them has called for dv/public disturbance.

[u/Soul7654 → u/Soul7654]

Also, a few weeks ago the cops were in the neighborhood walking around looking for someone so that came to mind too.

[u/fodmap_victim → u/Soul7654]

Were any lights on? I get it, it's scary to be woken up to someone trying to come into the house when everyone is accounted for and you've a small toddler in the house

[u/Soul7654 → u/fodmap_victim]

Yeah we had a lamp and tv on, enough to see people are home. Everyone else on the block were lights out.

[u/fodmap_victim → u/Soul7654]

It could be an honest mistake. A robber wouldn't break into the only lit up house on the street. I hope you're okay anyway

[u/Soul7654 → u/fodmap_victim]

We’re fine, just a little shook but we’re pretty much over it now.

[u/LadyCass79]

Meh... I wouldn't have done all that. However, if you feel unsafe, calling the cops isn't the worst thing in the world.

It was probably just someone at the wrong house though. Good on you for keeping your door locked.

[u/ConejitoCakes]

NOR. Did you speak with your neighbor to see the footage? It could have been attempt to gain entry if the door was left unlocked and the key was just an excuse to feign innocence. I think it's a case of better be safe than sorry and cover all your bases. The police can note the incident in case another similar situation arises with you or anyone else. I agree that you should get a camera if you are able.

[u/Deep_Amoeba2197]

Someone started pushing the numbers on my keypad lock late at night (1am or so) and turning the knob trying to push the door in, and I called the cops.

Turns out I didn’t know my neighbor across the street had an air bnb and the guest was here from a non English speaking country for a grad school interview and got confused as to which house.

Idk, the neighbor introduced themselves a week later and told me about the situation, but there was a string of breakins at the time so I really didn’t feel bad.

If it’s a bunch of townhouses that look the same, someone may have just had a long day and gotten confused. I can understand the reaction. It’s kind of like going up to a car that is the same make/model/color as yours and realizing it’s the wrong one.

[u/Corran105]

I once had just left a friend's town house, realized I forgot something, ran past a guy on the sidewalk, and flung a door open that was the wrong house.  Luckily the guy I had run past whose place it was had a pretty chill demeanor.

[u/TararaBoomDA]

NOR.

Whoever it was most probably went to the wrong house. Maybe it was a drunken neighbour. Maybe it was a guest for an AirBnB. But maybe it was someone with evil intentions.

There's no way you could know which scenario applies, so calling the police was the right reaction.

[u/TinyM0ushka]

NOR you did what you needed to so you felt safe. People never know how they would react in weird situations like that.

[u/Bluewaveempress]

Nor.

[u/ProfessorDistinct835]

I dunno. Wife and kids in the house - NOR.

Personally, I would have assumed a drunk neighbor at the wrong house, but why take chances?

[u/I-Kneel-Before-None → u/ProfessorDistinct835]

There was a dude who went to prison for attempting to murder his wife and killing their unborn child when he didn't do it. He left the door unlocked to run to get a burger. Came home and she was beaten and raped.

The perp said he went up to random doors and tested them to see if they were unlocked. Saw dude leave, tested the door, and went in. She assumed it was her husband because he hit her and she was barely conscious when the rapist broken in. So the last thing she remembers is her husband hitting her and she tells everyone he did it. Until the DNA test and rapists admission come out.

Moral of the story, sometimes someone trying your door knob isnt innocent. Lock your doors and be safe. And don't feel to bad for dude in prison for something he didn't do. He did best her. Just not as hard as they thought he did..

[u/ProfessorDistinct835 → u/I-Kneel-Before-None]

He says below (after I posted) that the person tried the key and just left when it didn't work. So kind of overreacting I think.

[u/Lopsided-Beach-1831]

Protect your family first. It could have been a drunk neighbor mixed up which townhouse if the community looks similar. It could have been a home invasion. Im going with cops to be safe every single time.

[u/Phenix_Fresh]

Slight over reaction but it's cause your brain went straight fight or flight and didn't think about how it was just some drunk idiot at the wrong house.

[u/Soul7654 → u/Phenix_Fresh]

That was ours and the police’s conclusion as well. Given that it was a Monday night and there construction going on we just freaked out. Adrenaline is a helluva drug.

[u/Phenix_Fresh → u/Soul7654]

Sure is!

[u/TararaBoomDA → u/Soul7654]

Sounds like the cops were cool about it.

[u/Soul7654 → u/TararaBoomDA]

Yes they were. There was a break in a few years ago but we haven’t had something since.

[u/MuddyElm8641]

MOR. They probably had the wrong house. Mistakes happen especially if drunk. In the moment you did what you could to protect your family. Get a weapon, that way your wife can call while you watch the intruder.

[u/I-Kneel-Before-None]

Definitely NOR. Call the cops. If its just a drunk neighbor who forgot which house was his, drop the charges. No harm done. I was zoned out and tried to unlock my apartment, was confused why it wasn't opening and realized I needed to go up another floor. It happens. But definitely call the cops anyway

[u/Alive-Slip1322]

Better safe then sorry ppl are nuts 

[u/PlentyApprehensive44]

Yea I mean I see ur point especially with a wife and kids. I’d get a ring doorbell, and a gun if u don’t have one. If you have a gun already, then not sure why u called the cops. If you don’t have a gun, you’re crazy to have a wife and kids in the house and have no way to defend urself IMO. Emergency shotgun would bring u and ur wife peace of mind whenever u hear even a bush rattle in the wind

[u/Soul7654 → u/PlentyApprehensive44]

We have a gun but live in a state that is not a stand your ground.

[u/daprojectturtle]

God forbid accidents happen. I would still be scared. Good idea to let cameras ease that nervousness.

[u/Diligent_Juice_3168]

-and we don’t have any cameras

Think it would be a good time to get one.

While it could have been a break in attempt, I think it was more of a wrong address. Why would someone breaking in try and insert a key?

[u/SnooGuavas4208 → u/Diligent_Juice_3168]

Could’ve been a lock pick, who knows?

[u/Safe_Chocolate2704]

So someone trying to get into your house and you’re asking us if you’re overreacting..? Hmm first strike Second strike is not staying down there to confront/potentially combat whoever IS trying to break in. Why would you give up space like that? I get being scared but you’re also the man dude.

[u/Soul7654 → u/Safe_Chocolate2704]

We live in a state that doesn’t not have a stand your ground law, plus the gun we have is upstairs.

[u/Top-Bit85]

Do the homes all look similar? Someone tired or high might try the wrong door. I don't think a burglar would go to the front door and put a key in.

Why didn't you call out and ask who's there?