Scary bizarre incident at my house this morning and a 911 call

[essnce629]

At approximately 7:55am this morning, as I was just about to leave to take DS1 to school, a woman with 3 children came to my door and rang my door bell multiple times and kept banging on my door. She and her children were all wearing hooded sweatshirts with the hoods up and she had a daughter who was about 9 years old, a son who was around 7 years old, and a baby boy who was asleep in her arms who was around 8 months old. When I opened the door, the woman pleaded with me to let her and her children inside my house saying that her boyfriend had just beat her and that he was after her. I saw NO marks, cuts, or bruises on this woman indicating that she had just been physically beaten and she was not in tears. She just kept insisting that I let her and her children inside. She even asked me to just take her baby. She said she had been living on the next block over and that her boyfriend was after her. Multiple times, her daughter yelled out "there he is" or "he's coming" but I never saw anyone on our street and her daughter seemed like she was putting on an act. I refused to let them in our house (keeping the door open only about 12" the whole time and keeping my foot against the back so she couldn't push it in) and offered to call 911 instead. Luckily I keep our house phone within arms reach of the front door. I called and asked them to send police and the 911 dispatcher asked to talk to the woman. She did (hesitantly) and repeated the same story that she had told me. The dispatcher said police were on the way and hung up. While waiting for the police the woman kept pleading with me to let her and the kids in the house and when I continued to refuse she then started to ask me to just take her and the kids to Gelsons (grocery store just 4 blocks away) so they could be in a public place till her sister in Long Beach came to get them. Eventually the police drove by my house but they did not stop!!!! I thought they were going to turn around and come back, but they didn't. After several minutes of waiting and dealing with this woman the whole time, I called 911 again and a few minutes later to cops finally showed up. At this point the woman continued to plead with me to just take her and the kids to Gelsons. She also asked to use my phone to see if her sister had called back, which didn't make any sense since she had never used my phone and her sister would not have my number. I told her that the police would let her use their phone and that they could call a second car to be able to take her and her children to safety. With the cops there trying to question her and help her, and me asking to leave so I could take DS1 to school (he was now late on his first day back), the woman said she would just leave and didn't want the cops' help. As I was driving away, she and her kids were quickly leaving the area, jogging away. I do not know what happened to them after that.

I feel like this woman was lying the entire time just to get inside my house. Very sad since she's dragging her poor children into the situation. I shudder to think what may have happened if I had let her in my house. So the moral of the story is to never let anyone into your house no matter what and to immediately call 911 instead. The cops can be the ones to figure out if the situation is legit or not. And keep your gates to your backyard locked as well!

[StantonHyde]

That is bizarre. Let your neighbors know.

[alootikki]

That's so strange, and good for you for remaining calm and collected for that long!

[Kindra178]

Oh my. That's a terrible story. Sorry you had to deal with that.

[AnnieW625]

Wow, that is freaking scary. I would go down to your LAPD office and report it if the police never called you back for placing the 911 call. I would be beyond freaking out if that had happened to me.

[maestramommy]

How bizarre! Good for you for staying calm! I'd follow up too with the police since they never responded to your first call.

[Tondi G]

WOW ... what a bizarre situation. I hope that she and her children are safe and that her sister did indeed show up to pick her up. If she is actually a victim of abuse I hope that she gets help.

[essnce629]

That is bizarre. Let your neighbors know.

Yes, we have a realtor in our neighborhood who is in charge of our Neighborhood Watch. Any time there is any kind of incident she sends out an email to the entire neighborhood. I already emailed her what happened and a description of the woman and kids so she could alert the neighbors.

[TwinFoxes]

That is just weird. I'm with you that it was some scam, and good for you for keeping yourself and your kids safe. When I lived in LA I had more than one person come to the door with some crazy story. The crazy boxer dog in my living room usually kept the conversation short. It sucks when you have to deal with creepy stuff at home.

[Melaine]

How awful! Were your kids freaked out? Mine would be completely traumatized. And I hope you follow up on why the cops didn't come right TO your house.

[Sweetum]

wow! good job on that. I would have been the weak one and maybe let her in or something :( Need to remember this, and more importantly to call 911.

[twowhat?]

wow! good job on that. I would have been the weak one and maybe let her in or something :( Need to remember this, and more importantly to call 911.

:yeahthat: So glad you are safe and that you have a head on your shoulders!

[KpbS]

So glad you did not let her in! What a bizarre event! I'm really sorry. Kudos to you for remaining calm!! :hug:

[bisous]

Wow. That is bizarre. I'm still confused. I would have totally let the lady in, not seeing the possibility of a scam but I would have been REALLY uncomfortable. What do you think she was planning on doing? It was so weird that she didn't let the police help. I suppose it is good to start thinking about what to do in this situation in advance. Clearly, I would not be as poised as you were this morning!

[hellokitty]

Wow, how scary and bizarre. Either she was trying to scam you or she was just crazy. It makes me wonder if she had been watching you for a while to see what your schedule is like, to catch you at a time where your guard is off. If you have a neighborhood watch, I'd definitely mention this incident to them.

[crl]

That is just really strange all around. I too wonder what she was trying to do. I am glad the police arrived and everyone walked away at least temporarily okay. I don't quite understand why she didn't accept a ride from the police if she was truly fleeing an abusive boyfriend, which makes me very suspicious.

Catherine

[maiaann]

That's so strange, and good for you for remaining calm and collected for that long!

:yeahthat: Excellent quick thinking/responding on your feet! I'm totally a sucker & probably would have let them into my house. :shake:

[rin]

That is totally bizarre, and I'm also super glad that everybody seems to be ok. I can't figure out what sort of scam she might have been trying to pull, though. I probably would have let her in, but my DH works from home and we have close (like, their house is 15ish feet from ours) neighbors who are always home. She might not be the kind of person who trusts the police?

[MSWR0319]

I wonder if she had made it in the house if she would have caused some other type of distraction to get you off guard and then the kids would have tried to pocket things or something. I could she her asking to use the phone or something and the kids had to go to the bathroom and instead took stuff. The whole thing just seems strange. I'm not sure what I would have done.

[wellyes]

I don't know if it was a scam or not. I can think of reasons why people would not want to call police. Not good reasons, but, still.... her wanting you to drive them to the grocery store with a baby in arms makes me think she has some other issues. I can ALSO think of a couple of ways it could have gone really, really wrong.

All you can do is trust your instincts, and you did that and stuck to your guns. Good for you.

[Mikey0709]

That was my thought - - she had the kids involved to possibly make it into your bathroom to see what's in the cabinet??? Sad - but people are desperate at times.

GOOD for you for holding your ground -- that must have been REALLY hard! You did the right thing though - especially with having your little ones there witnessing what was going on. THEY now know not to open the door.

I would TOTALLY follow up with the cops to see if they can tell you anything else.

[Pennylane]

Wow. That is bizarre. I'm still confused. I would have totally let the lady in, not seeing the possibility of a scam but I would have been REALLY uncomfortable. What do you think she was planning on doing? It was so weird that she didn't let the police help. I suppose it is good to start thinking about what to do in this situation in advance. Clearly, I would not be as poised as you were this morning!

Me too, would have let them right in and then been scared to death!
I'm so glad you posted about this because know I can think about how I would handle something like that.

Ann

[fedoragirl]

If it was a scam, I would have fallen for it. I still can't imagine what she would want inside your house with three kids.

[mikala]

So bizarre. I agree with the others guessing she would have distracted you while the kids stole stuff because the domestic violence story just doesn't make sense. So sad for the kids involved in this.

[boolady]

If it was a scam, I would have fallen for it. I still can't imagine what she would want inside your house with three kids.

Any number of things. Unfortunately, people employ their children in the commission of crimes all the time. Who knows what was going on here, but I don't blame OP for being concerned.

[LizLemon]

If it was a scam, I would have fallen for it. I still can't imagine what she would want inside your house with three kids.
Who knows. But I would not let someone acting erratically inside my house. Perhaps things would be fine, but I would hate to jeopardize my family. From working in ERs and psych units I well know that having kids in no way makes people act responsibly or safely, unfortunately, even when their kids are with them.

Given the stranger's complain, letting them stand outside while the OP called the police really seems like the safest option for everyone. That the stranger declined police assistance doesn't necessarily mean it's a scam (many abused women do not want to go to the police, for various reasons), but it's not the OP's fault or responsibility, either.

[queenmama]

Times like these I'm glad I have a psychotic, gigantic dog. I doubt anyone would be begging to come in with him at my heels, and if they were I would assume it was a genuine emergency.

I'm generally trusting but I strongly dislike people coming on my turf/near my kids (I'm thinking of beggars in Target parking lot). I get all Mama Bear.

Lara

[indigo99]

Scary. I too think that they were probably planning to steal some things (rummage through medicine cabinets for one thing) although it's possible that the boyfriend would have shown up and charged in as well.

When I was little, someone showed up on a neighbor's porch complaining of being chased and acting crazy. The people inside got scared and shot them through the door with a shotgun. The whole scenario is dangerous.

[sophiesmom03]

Very creepy. Good instincts! I hope that nothing bad happens to anyone who does let them in - I agree with you it sounded fishy.

[essnce629]

Thanks everyone, I'm still a bit rattled.

DBF had left for work about 20 minutes earlier so maybe she knew that? Also, my car was not in the driveway like it always is, it was parked on the street (DBF had been in the driveway). The gears in my head were definitely spinning the whole time while I was deciding what to do. But the fact that she said she had just been beaten, but had zero signs of any injury AND her baby was perfectly asleep in her arms just didn't make sense to me. And her DD, who looked to be the same age as my DS1, just seemed over dramatic in how she was acting. The woman claimed that she had been living in a house on the corner just the next block over. If that was the case, and her boyfriend really was after her, he would have found her in less than a minute. But the whole time she was on my doorstep (around 15 minutes) I never saw any man at all on my street or anywhere near (even though her DD was saying "there he is" and "he's coming). Oh, and at one point she asked if just the kids could come in my house since they were freezing and "had been outside since 4am!" This also didn't make sense if she had been living in a house just a block over.

I had heard of people being distracted at their front door (by someone trying to get in, sell something, etc) while someone goes around the back and breaks in to gain entry. This was going through my mind. Or what if I let her in and then her boyfriend showed up with a gun to rob us. She just really seemed to want to get inside my house or inside my car. Why would she keep asking for a ride to the grocery store right in front of the cops? And it's not like I could just squeeze 4 additional people in my car along with myself and 2 kids! I don't live in a remote area. She could have easily walked to the grocery store and I'm just one block away from the main street that is super busy with pedestrians and traffic.

I sent an email to my Neighborhood Watch leader and she immediately put out an email to the entire neighborhood describing what happened and asking if anyone else had any additional info or had dealt with a similar situation.

I'm thinking I should have stuck around longer while the police were here. They didn't ask me for a report or anything and said I could go. I guess I was just trying to get DS1 to school since it was his first day back and he was late. So yeah, I should probably follow up with the police and file an official report. Does anyone know if I have to go down to the actual police department or is it something I can do over the phone? I know where our local fire department is, but not police department.


ETA: I just got an email from my Neighborhood Watch leader and she believes that the woman might be a part of a group of people illegally occupying a foreclosed home on the next street over (the street the lady said she was living on). She said the people in the house are very suspicious & have been illegally occupying the house for over a year!!!! WTH!!! Apparently local officials are aware and that some type of action (she didn't have details) would be taken soon. She said those in the neighborhood were instructed to stay away from the house! She gave me the address of the house and it's not the corner house like the woman said, but it is the 2nd house from the corner. It's a foreclosed home, but according to Redfin, it is not currently for sale. Very weird.

[maiaann]

Thanks everyone, I'm still a bit rattled.

DBF had left for work about 20 minutes earlier so maybe she knew that? Also, my car was not in the driveway like it always is, it was parked on the street (DBF had been in the driveway). The gears in my head were definitely spinning the whole time while I was deciding what to do. But the fact that she said she had just been beaten, but had zero signs of any injury AND her baby was perfectly asleep in her arms just didn't make sense to me. And her DD, who looked to be the same age as my DS1, just seemed over dramatic in how she was acting. The woman claimed that she had been living in a house on the corner just the next block over. If that was the case, and her boyfriend really was after her, he would have found her in less than a minute. But the whole time she was on my doorstep (around 15 minutes) I never saw any man at all on my street or anywhere near (even though her DD was saying "there he is" and "he's coming). Oh, and at one point she asked if just the kids could come in my house since they were freezing and "had been outside since 4am!" This also didn't make sense if she had been living in a house just a block over.

I had heard of people being distracted at their front door (by someone trying to get in, sell something, etc) while someone goes around the back and breaks in to gain entry. This was going through my mind. Or what if I let her in and then her boyfriend showed up with a gun to rob us. She just really seemed to want to get inside my house or inside my car. Why would she keep asking for a ride to the grocery store right in front of the cops? And it's not like I could just squeeze 4 additional people in my car along with myself and 2 kids! I don't live in a remote area. She could have easily walked to the grocery store and I'm just one block away from the main street that is super busy with pedestrians and traffic.

I sent an email to my Neighborhood Watch leader and she immediately put out an email to the entire neighborhood describing what happened and asking if anyone else had any additional info or had dealt with a similar situation.

I'm thinking I should have stuck around longer while the police were here. They didn't ask me for a report or anything and said I could go. I guess I was just trying to get DS1 to school since it was his first day back and he was late. So yeah, I should probably follow up with the police and file an official report. Does anyone know if I have to go down to the actual police department or is it something I can do over the phone? I know where our local fire department is, but not police department.

Yes, your instincts were probably spot-on in this scenerio. Please keep us posted on the follow-up.

We had a segment on the news the other day warning us about "good samaritans" offering to shovel snow for homeowners. While one person shoveled snow, he played onlooker; the other worked as the criminal - sneaking into homes, garages, etc. stealing stuff. With Christmas gifts everywhere, it was a dangerous situation. Of course, elderly people are especially vulnerable.

I wish we could trust people more. :(

[VClute]

this reminds me of a special I saw on tv about families of criminals who use women and children to distract store owners and Rob them blind. I'm so glad you didn't let them in! that voice inside your head that tells you something isn't right is more important than the voice that tells you to be polite and helpful

[sweetsue98]

I'm shocked and glad you posted because I'm not sure what I would do. I definitely would be skeptical.

[dcmom2b3]

Great instincts, mama. Something like this happened to a colleague on NYE. Teen/tween girl shows up at the door at 10:30 or so. Barefoot. Asks to use the phone to call 911DV btwn mom and BF. Supposedly. Her friend (an ATF agent) who was with her screamed "No! Ambush!" And slammed the door shut. Friend's theory was that it was a set up for a home invasion.

Be safe, everyone.

[TxCat]

You did the right thing - that whole scenario would have tripped my suspicions as well.

[dcmom2b3]

If it was a scam, I would have fallen for it. I still can't imagine what she would want inside your house with three kids.

To open the doors -- from the inside -- for their co-conspiritors who were in the back yard?

[JustMe]

Wow, good for you for having such quick thinking! I had something similar (but a little less convincing/scary) happen a couple of years ago--I also posted here for advice. A man knocked on my door, and I actually did open it a crack (not sure why). He showed me a picture of a baby appearing to be about 5-6 months old and told me his newborn baby had been kidnapped in a car. I forget if he was asking for donations, to put up signs, etc, but I just told him I could not help. I felt bad and wondered if his story was true. t I did end up calling the police, but now I can't remember if they confirmed this was a scam or not.

[bigsis]

I had heard of people being distracted at their front door (by someone trying to get in, sell something, etc) while someone goes around the back and breaks in to gain entry.

I was just thinking about this. I got an email from LAPD that this is a common distraction for burglars. :hugs: I'm glad you and your family are okay thanks to your good instincts.

[Globetrotter]

Her friend (an ATF agent)

talk about good timing, having an ATF agent friend there!

OP, that was strange. So glad you trusted your instincts!

[LizLemon]

I had heard of people being distracted at their front door (by someone trying to get in, sell something, etc) while someone goes around the back and breaks in to gain entry.

I was just thinking about this. I got an email from LAPD that this is a common distraction for burglars. :hugs: I'm glad you and your family are okay thanks to your good instincts.

If these robbers are brazen enough to break into a house when they know someone is home, is occupying someone at the front door for a moments (until they realize someone is breaking in the back) that helpful?

Reading this thread makes me sort of afraid for when my kids are old enough to open the door. Obviously I need to teach them appropriate caution, but I don't want to make them terrified of the world, either (even though the world does seem increasingly terrifying at times).

[TwinFoxes]

If these robbers are brazen enough to break into a house when they know someone is home, is occupying someone at the front door for a moments (until they realize someone is breaking in the back) that helpful?



I think it's more of a home invasion style burglary, not cat burglar. So person goes in back, homeowner closes front door, and is confronted by the burglar demanding cash, etc.

[wellyes]

It may have been another type of scam. My sister is wiring is money but we have to have a bank account to put it in, give us your bank info. Or, we just need $200 up front, but you'll get the money back right away, etc. That was my thought when she kept bringing up the 'sister'.