This has got me on high alert and I'm looking for some suggestions.
A little background on my neighborhood. Nice, suburban, middle class town. Walking distance to schools, stores, banks, L.I.R.R. etc. Pretty quiet and normal except for a wave of skateboarder type kids that have been doing some minor vandalism and graffiti lately.
My house is the last house on a dead end street. The dead end turns into a field that the town maintains. Kids use the field as a shortcut on their way to and from school, people walk their dogs or jog through it etc. The house is also pretty close to the street....like 25-30 feet.
First, I have no idea if this is related or not but, my phone rang 3 times at 2:15am Thursday. Woke me and my wife but I just shrugged it off as a wrong number and went back to sleep. It's highly unusual for me to receive calls at that hour but I figured if it was an emergency they wouldn't have hung up so quick and/or just called back.
My wife left for work at 8am and I didn't have to split until 12:30 so, it's me and the dog hanging out. The dog is big...85-90 lbs, Shepherd/St. Bernard mix and is a terrific watch dog.
She's out on the front porch and I'm inside reading the paper and having coffee. She starts barking and I can tell she's not playing...she's spooked. I get up to go check it out and see this guy walking in front of my house that had just come through the field. Mid to late 20's, jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood up.
I watch him for maybe 3 seconds and I'm about to go back to the paper when he stops. Complete stop. He turns and faces my house and just stares at my house and dog. It struck me as so odd that I just stood there puzzled. He did this for 5 seconds then starts walking again. So I keep watching as he takes about 5 steps and stops again, turns in place and faces the house...I can see him talking to the dog.
The dog is going absolutely nuts. LOUD barking, drool is flying and she's trying to get over the gate to get at him....he should be scared and moving but he's not. My pistol was on a nearby counter in its holster (IWB clip on). I grab it tuck it in at 1:00, pull my shirt over it and head out to bring the dog inside.
When I get outside he's 2 houses down, stopped and staring at my house. I give him a, "You need some help?!" and he just turns and walks away. He makes it to the end of the street and stops, turns and stares at my house for 20 seconds, turns and walks off.
I really hope that I am conveying just how....weird...this whole scene was. I didn't want to leave because I was afraid for my dogs safety. Is that strange?
Anyway, I get home tonight and my wife says, "I'm so glad you're home." I knew exactly what she was going to say and was like, "No XXXXXXX way. Did he have jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt?" Her jaw dropped.
She goes on to tell me that he walked past our house 3 times since she had been home doing the same exact routine that he did in the morning. He was saying, "Shhhhhhh" to the dog while smiling at my wife. She told me the guy actually started to approach the house and try to engage the dog. This guy really freaked her out and I'm seriously pissed off and don't know what to do.
Right now I have my camera by the front door and plan to take some pics of this dirtbag in the morning if he comes by again. Gonna give my neighbors a heads up and ask them to keep an eye out for him. I also plan to tell him to leave the damn dog alone. It's like he's trying to "get to know" my dog so she'll be at ease around him or something. All I can think of right now is threats and ass kickings. I don't want to escalate things especially since this XXXX knows where I live.
Guys, any ideas?
A little background on my neighborhood. Nice, suburban, middle class town. Walking distance to schools, stores, banks, L.I.R.R. etc. Pretty quiet and normal except for a wave of skateboarder type kids that have been doing some minor vandalism and graffiti lately.
My house is the last house on a dead end street. The dead end turns into a field that the town maintains. Kids use the field as a shortcut on their way to and from school, people walk their dogs or jog through it etc. The house is also pretty close to the street....like 25-30 feet.
First, I have no idea if this is related or not but, my phone rang 3 times at 2:15am Thursday. Woke me and my wife but I just shrugged it off as a wrong number and went back to sleep. It's highly unusual for me to receive calls at that hour but I figured if it was an emergency they wouldn't have hung up so quick and/or just called back.
My wife left for work at 8am and I didn't have to split until 12:30 so, it's me and the dog hanging out. The dog is big...85-90 lbs, Shepherd/St. Bernard mix and is a terrific watch dog.
She's out on the front porch and I'm inside reading the paper and having coffee. She starts barking and I can tell she's not playing...she's spooked. I get up to go check it out and see this guy walking in front of my house that had just come through the field. Mid to late 20's, jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood up.
I watch him for maybe 3 seconds and I'm about to go back to the paper when he stops. Complete stop. He turns and faces my house and just stares at my house and dog. It struck me as so odd that I just stood there puzzled. He did this for 5 seconds then starts walking again. So I keep watching as he takes about 5 steps and stops again, turns in place and faces the house...I can see him talking to the dog.
The dog is going absolutely nuts. LOUD barking, drool is flying and she's trying to get over the gate to get at him....he should be scared and moving but he's not. My pistol was on a nearby counter in its holster (IWB clip on). I grab it tuck it in at 1:00, pull my shirt over it and head out to bring the dog inside.
When I get outside he's 2 houses down, stopped and staring at my house. I give him a, "You need some help?!" and he just turns and walks away. He makes it to the end of the street and stops, turns and stares at my house for 20 seconds, turns and walks off.
I really hope that I am conveying just how....weird...this whole scene was. I didn't want to leave because I was afraid for my dogs safety. Is that strange?
Anyway, I get home tonight and my wife says, "I'm so glad you're home." I knew exactly what she was going to say and was like, "No XXXXXXX way. Did he have jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt?" Her jaw dropped.
She goes on to tell me that he walked past our house 3 times since she had been home doing the same exact routine that he did in the morning. He was saying, "Shhhhhhh" to the dog while smiling at my wife. She told me the guy actually started to approach the house and try to engage the dog. This guy really freaked her out and I'm seriously pissed off and don't know what to do.
Right now I have my camera by the front door and plan to take some pics of this dirtbag in the morning if he comes by again. Gonna give my neighbors a heads up and ask them to keep an eye out for him. I also plan to tell him to leave the damn dog alone. It's like he's trying to "get to know" my dog so she'll be at ease around him or something. All I can think of right now is threats and ass kickings. I don't want to escalate things especially since this XXXX knows where I live.
Guys, any ideas?