[CharlieH]

So yesterday while I was out, a man came to my house and knocked on the door. My brother answered and the man said, "I'm here to clean your gutters, is there anybody home?". At the time 3 people were at home so the man told my brother to have my parents call him because he had apparently been trying to get ahold of them to clean the gutters for the last month.

But here's why it was really suspicious. He came in a black altima, parked on the other end of the street, with three other men waiting in the car. He had no uniform, no work issued van/truck or any equipment. On top of that, he knocked on the door instead of ringing the door bell. I'm guessing that's to make you open the door instead of talking to him through the intercom.

Unfortunately my brother couldn't get a look at the plate because the car was parked so far away. He called me right after the man left and I drove around for a while looking for the car, but had no luck. I've already reported it to the police, but I doubt it'll do anything since I wasn't able to get a plate number.

Anyways, has this or something similar happened to anyone else? Any other suggestions as to what I could do? Thanks.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

it does sound kinda suspicious


what nationality was the dude? which area? (richmond?)

[FN-2199]

Sounds VERY suspicious. What did your parents say? Are they actually waiting for people to clean the gutters?

[CharlieH]

it does sound kinda suspicious


what nationality was the dude? which area? (richmond?)

white guy, medium build. and yup its in Richmond.

Sounds VERY suspicious. What did your parents say? Are they actually waiting for people to clean the gutters?

My parents have never scheduled anyone to clean our gutters before. I do it every year with a shitty wooden ladder in the back yard haha.

[Five-Oh]

So yesterday while I was out, a man came to my house and knocked on the door. My brother answered and the man said, "I'm here to clean your gutters, is there anybody home?". At the time 3 people were at home so the man told my brother to have my parents call him because he had apparently been trying to get ahold of them to clean the gutters for the last month.

But here's why it was really suspicious. He came in a black altima, parked on the other end of the street, with three other men waiting in the car. He had no uniform, no work issued van/truck or any equipment. On top of that, he knocked on the door instead of ringing the door bell. I'm guessing that's to make you open the door instead of talking to him through the intercom.

Unfortunately my brother couldn't get a look at the plate because the car was parked so far away. He called me right after the man left and I drove around for a while looking for the car, but had no luck. I've already reported it to the police, but I doubt it'll do anything since I wasn't able to get a plate number.

Anyways, has this or something similar happened to anyone else? Any other suggestions as to what I could do? Thanks.

Most residential break and enters are done during the day because the occupants of the house are most likely not going to be home. It is quite common that they will knock on the door or ring the door bell prior to breaking into the house just to make sure they aren't going to come across somebody inside of the house. They will usually then go around the back of your house and access it through a back window or door. Based on what you have said here there is a good possibility they were casing your house to do a break and enter.

Could you please post as detailed of a description as possible of the suspect(s) and their vehicle. Also could you please PM me the file number and I will review it next time I am back at work. Thanks in advance.

[StylinRed]

if they came in a Altima filled with people.... it doesnt sound like they COULD steal from your place... where are they going to put the stuff???



maybe he was off work and decided to drop by and ask, but got the wrong house? or maybe they were thugs planning on beating someone up but got the wrong place (and realized it after seeing your brother)

its fishy yes but like i said where are they going to stick your stuff... coming in a Van would be suspicious

[twitchyzero]

^ they are not always after high-end home theater equipments either
OP should've asked what the company's name was to call his bluff

[BinsentoW]

I clean gutters, but I didn't have a company vehicle before. I do knock on doors sometimes, but I never show up in a car with no ladders, so they do sound suspicious.
One time I showed up at a customers home, but my brother showed up earlier in a mustang. Police were called and showed up 10 mins later when I was cleaning.

[hirevtuner]

my 2 cents, 3 dude in an altima is probably looking for a certain person (a hit) like gang war

if I were to rob someone, i would drive a van instead of a regular sedan and park my car in ther back alley and probably strike at night time

[AzNightmare]

oh, this can't be that good for me.... I always ignore door bells and door knocks unless I'm expecting someone.
Cause I couldn't care less what people need to sell me and in this day and age (at least for me),
people know to call before coming, and random visits don't happen anymore.

[tonyvu]

holly shit charlie, shit was about to go down.... sounds very suspicious to me

[Domani]

where abouts in richmond?

[Brianrietta]

the man said, "I'm here to clean your gutters,

No, you almost got raped. (That was the end of the mouseover preview from the list)

[donot521]

oh, this can't be that good for me.... I always ignore door bells and door knocks unless I'm expecting someone.
Cause I couldn't care less what people need to sell me and in this day and age (at least for me),
people know to call before coming, and random visits don't happen anymore.

Me too.

If I'm not expecting anyone, I just let them ring/knock. My dog barks like hell and I let her do so. It also feels safer to have a Pitbull at home too :)

[ForbiddenX]

Same thing happened around my neighbourhood. There would be a guy or two going around asking to clean gutters. They would then bring up a ladder and start cleaning or whatever and apparently, they would go to the back and just take stuff. Even if you were home, they'd still take stuff from the back. Bikes, tools, etc...

I dont know what happened to the guys but a couple of my neighbours were victims. My dad was foolish enough to say yes to them but nothing was taken from us. This was happening last year I think. I dont remember around what month exactly though.

Hopefully none of you guys become victim to this.

edit: this was around main and marine drive

[raygunpk]

my 2 cents, 3 dude in an altima is probably looking for a certain person (a hit) like gang war

if I were to rob someone, i would drive a van instead of a regular sedan and park my car in ther back alley and probably strike at night time

you would drive a burger van

[1exotic]

Most residential break and enters are done during the day because the occupants of the house are most likely not going to be home. It is quite common that they will knock on the door or ring the door bell prior to breaking into the house just to make sure they aren't going to come across somebody inside of the house. They will usually then go around the back of your house and access it through a back window or door. Based on what you have said here there is a good possibility they were casing your house to do a break and enter.

Could you please post as detailed of a description as possible of the suspect(s) and their vehicle. Also could you please PM me the file number and I will review it next time I am back at work. Thanks in advance.

http://thepilver.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/csi-miami.jpg

[Windstar]

I had 2 guys break into my house when I was 13. Since my house before had a "beware of dog" sign, they brought the shovel up from the garage to hit my "dog" with it. instead they found me, blah blah blah *personal info* and i called police after

[E-40six]

Which area of Richmond was this?

I had a random knock this morning around 7-8ish, It was pretty suspicious because we just moved to this area and not too many people know that I live here right now.

[FI-Z33]

mm....sounds fishy...

[seakrait]

and this is why i'm semi-glad i live in a electronically protected apartment. especially with the thought of the wife and/or child at home alone when these guys knock on the door. it's not full-proof but at least it's quite difficult for some guy off the street to break in. it's almost always (when it does happen) an inside job.

[Fafine]

^ ive heard of break ins for apts. the guy was saying how his neighbor got robbed im like oh what happened? hes like well the owner was home alone and this big black guy kicked open her front door and robbed her. this is an apartment too.

[MG1]

This was in Richmond. Asians have cash and jewelry in their homes, man. Why steal a TV or stereo equipment? Plus, four people = much faster.

[CharlieH]

Most residential break and enters are done during the day because the occupants of the house are most likely not going to be home. It is quite common that they will knock on the door or ring the door bell prior to breaking into the house just to make sure they aren't going to come across somebody inside of the house. They will usually then go around the back of your house and access it through a back window or door. Based on what you have said here there is a good possibility they were casing your house to do a break and enter.

Could you please post as detailed of a description as possible of the suspect(s) and their vehicle. Also could you please PM me the file number and I will review it next time I am back at work. Thanks in advance.

thanks for all your help and info!

[SkinnyPupp]

4 White guys in Richmond = definitely criminals

[seakrait]

^ ive heard of break ins for apts. the guy was saying how his neighbor got robbed im like oh what happened? hes like well the owner was home alone and this big black guy kicked open her front door and robbed her. this is an apartment too.

is that in an electronically-protected apartment? ie: the electronic key fobs only allow the user to go to a designated floor. thus (hypothetically), the floor should only be accessible by the homeowners and the resident manager.

that cuts down on the odds that you'd get robbed at home. i mean, it has to be a shitty neighbour who gives up his fob to his friends so that they can rob you.

[Fafine]

is that in an electronically-protected apartment? ie: the electronic key fobs only allow the user to go to a designated floor. thus (hypothetically), the floor should only be accessible by the homeowners and the resident manager.

that cuts down on the odds that you'd get robbed at home. i mean, it has to be a shitty neighbour who gives up his fob to his friends so that they can rob you.



oh sorry missed that part. ive been telling my apt we should get that. im not sure if the one that got robbed was electronically protected. probably not because they can't even move the elevator without it. i think all new apts should be like that though.

[Jer3]

is that in an electronically-protected apartment? ie: the electronic key fobs only allow the user to go to a designated floor. thus (hypothetically), the floor should only be accessible by the homeowners and the resident manager.

that cuts down on the odds that you'd get robbed at home. i mean, it has to be a shitty neighbour who gives up his fob to his friends so that they can rob you.

both my sisters live in these apartments with fobs that let you out only on your floor yet there have been 2-3 break-ins still ever since they moved in.

[seakrait]

^^^ inside job/shitty neighbours.

when looking into buying into these apartment buildings, another way to cut down on risks is to find out if the majority of the people living in the building are renters or owners. if a building is lived in by mostly renters, you'll more likely have issues. owners have a vested interest in keeping their residence safe.

[underscore]

^ depends on the quality of the system, if it's a crappy setup it would be easy to bypass, plus a previous tenant could have copied the fob

to the OP: yeah I'd say you would've gotten robbed, especially since the guy didn't leave a phone number to contact him at about the cleaning.

my 2 cents, 3 dude in an altima is probably looking for a certain person (a hit) like gang war

if I were to rob someone, i would drive a van instead of a regular sedan and park my car in ther back alley and probably strike at night time

have you not seen Home Alone 3? they always hit during the day, cause noone is home during the day. my parents old house got hit when I was in middle school, they pried open the sliding glass door (*a note: if you have a sliding glass door that only has the latch near the handle, ensure the screws holding the metal plate to the door frame are as far to the top and bottom of the slots for screws as possible) and my mom and I came home when they were still in the house but they got scared off by the garage door opening. We know this because they only hit my parents room and my brothers but not mine or the rest of the house, and my moms jewelry was spread out on the bed and random bits were taken (ie one earring from a set).

[seakrait]

^ depends on the quality of the system, if it's a crappy setup it would be easy to bypass, plus a previous tenant could have copied the fob

also it's up the the strata council to keep tabs on how many fobs are in circulation. my strata council (for all their anal retentiveness) are pretty good about security (despite the break-ins here and there into the previous areas). they do an annual audit of the key fobs. all fobs not brought by the tenants/owners to the office for the sign-in will be deleted from the system and there are a maximum of three fobs per unit.

[Zyzz]

im surprirsed no one mention just install bars on every single window

very good investment imo

[skyxx]

also it's up the the strata council to keep tabs on how many fobs are in circulation. my strata council (for all their anal retentiveness) are pretty good about security (despite the break-ins here and there into the previous areas). they do an annual audit of the key fobs. all fobs not brought by the tenants/owners to the office for the sign-in will be deleted from the system and there are a maximum of three fobs per unit.

I'm sorry for being a bit childish but I cracked up when you said that line.

[CharlieH]

I'm sorry for being a bit childish but I cracked up when you said that line.

HAHAHAHAHA

[seakrait]

I'm sorry for being a bit childish but I cracked up when you said that line.

:haha:

[shawn79]

I had 2 guys break into my house when I was 13. Since my house before had a "beware of dog" sign, they brought the shovel up from the garage to hit my "dog" with it. instead they found me, blah blah blah *personal info* and i called police after

did they hit u with the shovel? :eek:

[Meowjin]

4 White guys in Richmond = definitely criminals

:(

[you!]

clean ur gutters huh wow never heard of that one b4

[dogeatcookie]

wtf

[MWR34]

Think of the liability.. these workers or Homebased freelance (craigslist) Gutter cleaners... they come to clean your gutters, even if they do honest work, any slip or fall they have on your property.. your Sued.

[hchang]

I had a random knock this morning around 7-8ish, It was pretty suspicious because we just moved to this area and not too many people know that I live here right now.

Could be new neighbours welcome you to the neighbourhood?

[- kT]

Could be new neighbours welcome you to the neighbourhood?

at 7am? doubt it

[SlowRider]

a bla altima ...3 guys in there wiating ...wow yur lucky u didnt get shot in the face ....

[Autorice]

one time, window cleaners did come to our place without a ladder, they basically asked every house on the block and they leave the ladder in someone's house overnight (our house in particular) when they do more work the next day. they did shitty work because he 'finished' in 30 minutes what normally took me and my brother about 2 hours (he was by himself) so by Fall I had to clean it up and we never trust any unsolicited service.

[babyYoung]

i had a similar situation yesterday! i was at my grandma's house and around 10ish (in the morning) these two brown guys knocked on the door but instead of opening the door i was talking to them through the intercom...

but anyways.. they said they work for telus and was just going around the neighbourhood to do a survey. I told them no thanks cuz we switched to shaw and they kept questioning me why were with shaw and not with telus, they asked if my parents were home, && they asked if they could come in to check if the cables are hooked up properly. I was thinking to myself wtf for what!

& here is why i think is suspicious.. they had no paperwork, no binder && they werent even dressed professional. One of the guy was wearing a north face bomber with rocks, and the other one was wearing a dom rebel tshirt with rocks & one of them looked like he was 14!! So i told them no they couldnt come in, and told them to leave, my grandma turned on the camera, and saw them getting into a MDX. The weird thing was, my grandma's house is located in the middle of the block, but we did not see them go door to door. hmmm =/

[gabbergabber]

i had a similar situation yesterday! i was at my grandma's house and around 10ish (in the morning) these two brown guys knocked on the door but instead of opening the door i was talking to them through the intercom...

but anyways.. they said they work for telus and was just going around the neighbourhood to do a survey. I told them no thanks cuz we switched to shaw and they kept questioning me why were with shaw and not with telus, they asked if my parents were home, && they asked if they could come in to check if the cables are hooked up properly. I was thinking to myself wtf for what!

& here is why i think is suspicious.. they had no paperwork, no binder && they werent even dressed professional. One of the guy was wearing a north face bomber with rocks, and the other one was wearing a dom rebel tshirt with rocks & one of them looked like he was 14!! So i told them no they couldnt come in, and told them to leave, my grandma turned on the camera, and saw them getting into a MDX. The weird thing was, my grandma's house is located in the middle of the block, but we did not see them go door to door. hmmm =/
Sounds like exactly what robbers would wear haha, Telus would never asked to see if your cables are properly adjusted if you were with the opposing company. They may be looking at only your grandma's house because shes old i guess.

[sunny_j]

i had a similar situation yesterday! i was at my grandma's house and around 10ish (in the morning) these two brown guys knocked on the door but instead of opening the door i was talking to them through the intercom...

but anyways.. they said they work for telus and was just going around the neighbourhood to do a survey. I told them no thanks cuz we switched to shaw and they kept questioning me why were with shaw and not with telus, they asked if my parents were home, && they asked if they could come in to check if the cables are hooked up properly. I was thinking to myself wtf for what!

& here is why i think is suspicious.. they had no paperwork, no binder && they werent even dressed professional. One of the guy was wearing a north face bomber with rocks, and the other one was wearing a dom rebel tshirt with rocks & one of them looked like he was 14!! So i told them no they couldnt come in, and told them to leave, my grandma turned on the camera, and saw them getting into a MDX. The weird thing was, my grandma's house is located in the middle of the block, but we did not see them go door to door. hmmm =/

where does your grandma live?

[hchang]

where does your grandma live?

That's a pretty creepy question to ask somebody.

[spoon.ek9]

thank you OP for bringing this topic up for everyone. this is certainly an eye opener. it would be a good idea for you to inform your neighbours as well.



i had a similar situation yesterday! i was at my grandma's house and around 10ish (in the morning) these two brown guys knocked on the door but instead of opening the door i was talking to them through the intercom...

but anyways.. they said they work for telus and was just going around the neighbourhood to do a survey. I told them no thanks cuz we switched to shaw and they kept questioning me why were with shaw and not with telus, they asked if my parents were home, && they asked if they could come in to check if the cables are hooked up properly. I was thinking to myself wtf for what!

& here is why i think is suspicious.. they had no paperwork, no binder && they werent even dressed professional. One of the guy was wearing a north face bomber with rocks, and the other one was wearing a dom rebel tshirt with rocks & one of them looked like he was 14!! So i told them no they couldnt come in, and told them to leave, my grandma turned on the camera, and saw them getting into a MDX. The weird thing was, my grandma's house is located in the middle of the block, but we did not see them go door to door. hmmm =/

this is extremely suspicious, i would report it to the police immediately. thieves have been heavily targeting elderly home owners the past few years.

[The_AK]

Fuck i hate thieves, what gives someone the right to take shit that is not theres? FUCK it just pisses me off.

pretty crazy though, my dad's truck has been broken into twice before (and we live in richmond too)
-first time thief stole a cd changer and failed to get the deck out because alarm went off.
-second time (new car, no alarm yet) thief stole sunglasses, change, and gum.

[babyYoung]

where does your grandma live?

lol, my grandma lives on 4th & penticton in vancouver.

[babyYoung]

Sounds like exactly what robbers would wear haha, Telus would never asked to see if your cables are properly adjusted if you were with the opposing company. They may be looking at only your grandma's house because shes old i guess.

i know! thats why i told them to leave. i was like wth, like seriously! my grandma doesnt live alone, shes got my aunt & uncle but they were at work at the time.. i dont know, if anything i think my grandma has them on camera still..

[Diu.]

good thing im far of richmond. that sounds scary though

[impactX]

is that in an electronically-protected apartment? ie: the electronic key fobs only allow the user to go to a designated floor. thus (hypothetically), the floor should only be accessible by the homeowners and the resident manager.

that cuts down on the odds that you'd get robbed at home. i mean, it has to be a shitty neighbour who gives up his fob to his friends so that they can rob you.

But what do they use to keep the people from coming in from the emergency stairwell?

[TypeRNammer]

But what do they use to keep the people from coming in from the emergency stairwell?

I think the doors are locked from inside the emergency stair well, based on my experience with some of the apartments around the Joyce Station area.

[sunny_j]

That's a pretty creepy question to ask somebody.

sorry i meant what area