# strange backyard incident



## kaisa (Apr 21, 2010)

about a half hour ago I was outside enoying the sun in the backyard when this crack head looking lady wearing an orange construction vest walks through the front yard and down the side of the house right into my back yard. 

She said shes from the elizabeth fry society doing a bottle drive and wanted to know if she could have the 5 garbage bags of beer bottles i have under the patio. She knew exactly where they were so its like she had been back there before and was coming to grab them but I caught her off gaurd. anyways I told her they wern't mine and she would have to come back later but she went on for 10 minutes on how she was doing this from 6am and this is the last day before the bbq and she needed them now. 

After she finally left I looked up the elizabeth fry number on my phone and called them and of course they wern't doing a bottle drive and they definitly wouldn't just walk into peoples back yards like that. They told me to call the NWPD non emergency just to let them know theres a crazy lady going into peoples backyards. I dont think she was really after bottles, she just said that cause I caught her... Good thing I was outside when she came back there. I could care less about the bottles but theres lots of other stuff she could of stolen. Time to lock everything up in the garage. 

When I came back inside after calling them I notice the front door is unlocked  hopefully she wasn't in the house after she left the backyard because it was a while before i finally came inside.


----------



## cowis (Apr 21, 2010)

wow creepy!what makes people think they have the right to walk into ur backyard anyways! and the fact she knew were everything was...... not cool!!!!


----------



## neven (May 15, 2010)

could you count the teeth she had on one hand?


----------



## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

wow good thing is right.
i second the call the NWPD non emerge # and let them know for sure.....


----------



## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

cops wont do anything, get a dog.


----------



## kaisa (Apr 21, 2010)

the cops just said they would patrol the area. I did see them creep by about 10 minutes after I called so thats good I guess. 

I do have a big dog but he has to be tied up when he's in the backyard because he digs massive holes in the garden. He was barking like mad at her and wanting to rip her face off... The more i think about it the more I wish I would of let him get her lol


----------



## plantedinvertz (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow that is really creepy :O


----------



## dean9922 (Apr 21, 2010)

better yet....get a monitored alarm system if you don't have one already. I own a security company in prince george and I would NEVER be without one.
You can even arm it up to stay mode for when you are home to give you peace of mind should anyone ever try to come into your house.....that's a creepy story you told, but not one i've never heard before.....I don't want to scare you, but sometimes that's what they do....go to a back door and knock to see if anyone is home or not and if you don't answer they break in.....good thing you were home.....damn crackheads......good luck


----------



## kaisa (Apr 21, 2010)

no one else who lives here thinks we need an alarm system but me  we have a big dog who barks like crazy when someones at the door, they think thats good enough....A few years ago we had a similar thing to what you explained. Some kid was knocking at the front door one morning, I didnt answer cause I was in bed but about 5 minutes later they were inside walking by my bedroom door...the back door was unlocked  good thing they ran out when they saw me.

im hoping this crazy lady didn't come in the house because she seen that I was "home". I don't see anything missing but you never know. Just the fact she could of been in my house freaks me out.


----------



## rescuepenguin (Apr 21, 2010)

Calling the police is more for the file # than anything else. There was a time when my fence kept getting kicked in. Every time it happened, we got a file number. One day we got a call from the RCMP that they had noticed a pattern. It seams that there was a small group who would start in a certain location, kick a fence in, then carry on along a predictable path. One night the calls started coming into the RCMP, they were able to stage some constables along the route, who then caught them, and witnessed one of the acts. Our fence never got kicked in after that.

That is why you report it and get a file number. It allows them to create a profile/pattern, if there is one.


----------



## NewGuy (Apr 22, 2010)

Yeah we've had that happen in North Burnaby too. Some guy just walked into our yard and took our cans and bottles. Now the gate to the back lane is locked...


----------



## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

WwwOWW that is really creepy... I would have been rummaging for a baseball bat!!!

It makes sense that she was probably just looking for bottles. It's a common source of income for homeless people and there are only so many bottles out in the streets. Maybe some people go onto private property in search of more bottles... they probably reason that they're not hurting anybody by doing this so why not?

Come to think of it I think we have had some homeless people pick bottles out of our recycling when we put it out.

Get a lock for the gate-- I feel like having strange people just walk into your backyard will result in disaster eventually!

ALSO... I know some hardware stores sell 'spike strips' that you can put on the fence to prevent birds from perching there. In my family's experience they also work well to keep any sort of intruder (human, cat, or otherwise) out.


----------



## Punkys Dad (Apr 25, 2010)

Same here, I had a couple of garbage bags of cans and bottles stored in my yard out of the view from the back lane and they disappeared one day. A month later my wife caught some looking for something on my property. If I put it out by the blue box I think it's fair game, first come first served. But don't trespass.


----------



## dean9922 (Apr 21, 2010)

agreed.....letting the police know about this would be a good idea....at least they can keep an eye out for a female crackhead with a orange vest...lol


----------



## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Good to hear that you're ok. I would be very, very, very upset with someone doing that to us if my baby girl was playing in our yard. There would be some extra compost material to fertilize next years garden, me thinks. Crackheads & druggies are a bane on society. 

Anthony


----------



## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

I had manny of those too, is amazing how they dont respect peoples property, i had them come upstairs by my door just to look for bottles, going around the house all around it, i think he thought i wasnt home and as soon as my dog barked i saw him and open the door and told him how i felt and that if he came back he was going to b dog food lol


----------



## disco lad (May 11, 2010)

I would hate to say it, but dogs will only deter some theves. My former boss had a dog that lived in the yard where i work. Big and scary one too. Theves wanted to steal so bad that they got the dog.


----------



## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm fine with people collecting bottles, but they should NOT go into someone's backyard to steal it.

Creepy.


----------



## wsl (Apr 21, 2010)

I had a similar experience a couple of weeks back. Only in my case, it wasn't cans that were stolen, but a potted plant that had been left outside to get some sun on my front step. And this was a big pot too, probably weighed around 20 pounds. I don't even know when exactly it happened. Just one day, I noticed that the plant had disappeared...


----------



## cpool (Apr 30, 2010)

wsl said:


> I had a similar experience a couple of weeks back. Only in my case, it wasn't cans that were stolen, but a potted plant that had been left outside to get some sun on my front step. And this was a big pot too, probably weighed around 20 pounds.


Well you shouldn't leave your "pot" outside, druggies will steal it every time. LOL


----------



## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

cpool said:


> Well you shouldn't leave your "pot" outside, druggies will steal it every time. LOL


x2! Use your common sense!!!

Last year we woke up one morning to discover that the basin of our bird bath had been removed and was sitting neatly right beside the pedestal part 

At first we suspected a bear had knocked it over but a bear would have sent it flying, not just set down on the ground. Not to mention the bear probably would have squished our fence in the process of hopping it. I don't think that flimsy wood could support 150 lbs.

My mom has also had lawn ornaments stolen, as have our neighbors. Now everything shiny is either bolted down or kept inside at night


----------



## VinnyD (Apr 21, 2010)

there was one time ..or maybe two...when in the summer someone had stolen clothes off the clothesline where we hung the laundry out to dry. therefore we installed a gate in the back yard to deter people from doing so. it also helps to have nice neighbours who occasionally help keep watch for suspicious activities.


----------



## BullDog (Apr 21, 2010)

Weird stuff... Something similar happened at my house not too long ago... It was late, at least 10 PM, and we heard the side gate slam. We happened to be looking out the window, and this guy just strolls by, then he sees us, and waves! We were like, WTF? I think he did a loop around the house, then went out the other side, and when we saw him down the road (he was actually back at his car, which was running), and was on a cell phone, so we opened the door and said "Are you looking for something?" and he says, "Oh, I'm doing a pizza delivery." and he held up a bag.

We thought yeah right, people on deliveries don't go through a 6' fence into the back yard... We figured we was doing a drug delivery or something... Didn't think of calling the police then, but I guess we should have recorded his licence # and made a file, like Penguin said...


----------



## SophieThomas (May 12, 2010)

That's really unfortunate. I come from a place where we don't lock our doors and would feel comfortable leaving our keys in our cars so I'm not really sure how I would act having someone casually walk into my house (hopefully she didn't do that). 

I think you handled it the best possible way. I hate it when I hear about people getting aggressive towards homeless people/drug addicts. Obviously their actions are not their own by that point.

Definitely well done


----------



## L!$A (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm the same as SophieThomas .. although the only time my car got broken into was in Abbotsford.. haha. I grew up in Sardis (Chilliwack) and we never locked our doors .. or car doors.. until I moved out to the big city, I don't feel comfortable NOT locking my doors, especially if I am alone. 

Glad you're okay though!!


----------



## keitarosan (Apr 21, 2010)

really weird. i don't understand people. there's also this old lady going around the guildford area picking up bottles, etc to get a few money from them. every morning rain or shine, snow or whatever she's out there rummaging commercial trash cans and even some people's trash cans waiting to be collected by the garbage guys.

1 day as i was out biking. i kept an eye on her fo about half an hour while i was biking around the area. she has about half full bag of the typical black garbage bag of bottles and stuff. she turned a corner and i followed her then she went in a very nice newly constructed condo. i was out on the street sipping some drink while resting a bit. then i saw her again on the 2nd floor balcony of the condo putting away her collections for the day in a bigger bag. 

i don't get it. is she broke? i don't think so. living in a high-end brand new condo is not for a broke person. is she a hoarder? maybe she's doing it for fun or just for extra cash. i still don't get it.


----------



## kaisa (Apr 21, 2010)

SophieThomas said:


> That's really unfortunate. I come from a place where we don't lock our doors and would feel comfortable leaving our keys in our cars so I'm not really sure how I would act having someone casually walk into my house (hopefully she didn't do that).
> 
> I think you handled it the best possible way. I hate it when I hear about people getting aggressive towards homeless people/drug addicts. Obviously their actions are not their own by that point.
> 
> Definitely well done


i was still really nice and polite to her..i was just nervous and shocked she would do that. It's not exactly easy to get to my backyard the way she came. I probably would have even given her the cans/bottles if they were mine...she obviously needs the money more than I do.

What I find weird is I had my back turned so she could have walked in then seen me then walked out and I wouldn't have known but instead she started talking and acted like it was okay for her to do that. At least she asked if she could have them instead of just comming back later to grab them.


----------



## Fourstreeman (Apr 23, 2010)

Very weird - I have an offoce in New Westminister - uptown, around the mall. It was last fall early winter and a women wearing a vis vest walked right up to the front door, opened it and walked right into the office. 

I stopped her and asked her what she was doing, and she said she was from the city to inspect something. I knew it was false. I told her that she needed to leave, right away, or I would call the police. She replied "Go ahead" and said that if the police came she would be a Psychiatric patient and nothing would happen. I grabbed her by the arm and excorted her out, rather forceable.

I am not sure, but I think she a couple of bricks short - but knows how to work the system, knows how to play it. She has not been back yet... Maybe moved to your neighbourhood?


----------



## Tracers (Apr 21, 2010)

careful with the dog!!! If a dog bites anyone, including an intruder, they will be put down and you CAN be sued out of house and home  a "beware of dog" sign is actually used against you in a lawsuit because it admits you are aware of the liability. 

Always ask for ID if youre unsure, any charity or volunteer organization makes their ppl wear badges or nametags, etc...


----------



## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

Tracers said:


> careful with the dog!!! If a dog bites anyone, including an intruder, they will be put down and you CAN be sued out of house and home  a "beware of dog" sign is actually used against you in a lawsuit because it admits you are aware of the liability.
> 
> Always ask for ID if youre unsure, any charity or volunteer organization makes their ppl wear badges or nametags, etc...


I think they have to bite someone 3 times, unless the mauling is very serious.

Very interesting about the 'beware of dog' sign! I wonder if there's anything you can do (ie post a 'no tresspassing' sign) to make a good countersuit case in case an intruder sues you for the bite


----------



## Theratboy_101 (Apr 27, 2010)

keitarosan said:


> really weird. i don't understand people. there's also this old lady going around the guildford area picking up bottles, etc to get a few money from them. every morning rain or shine, snow or whatever she's out there rummaging commercial trash cans and even some people's trash cans waiting to be collected by the garbage guys.
> 
> 1 day as i was out biking. i kept an eye on her fo about half an hour while i was biking around the area. she has about half full bag of the typical black garbage bag of bottles and stuff. she turned a corner and i followed her then she went in a very nice newly constructed condo. i was out on the street sipping some drink while resting a bit. then i saw her again on the 2nd floor balcony of the condo putting away her collections for the day in a bigger bag.
> 
> i don't get it. is she broke? i don't think so. living in a high-end brand new condo is not for a broke person. is she a hoarder? maybe she's doing it for fun or just for extra cash. i still don't get it.


lol there was 2 men in there 70's in langley doing that. But they were never around in winter. it turned out that they were old friends. they lived together and made enought for bottles and cans to spend all winter in Florida


----------



## punchbuggy (Apr 21, 2010)

keitarosan said:


> really weird. i don't understand people. there's also this old lady going around the guildford area picking up bottles, etc to get a few money from them. every morning rain or shine, snow or whatever she's out there rummaging commercial trash cans and even some people's trash cans waiting to be collected by the garbage guys.
> 
> 1 day as i was out biking. i kept an eye on her fo about half an hour while i was biking around the area. she has about half full bag of the typical black garbage bag of bottles and stuff. she turned a corner and i followed her then she went in a very nice newly constructed condo. i was out on the street sipping some drink while resting a bit. then i saw her again on the 2nd floor balcony of the condo putting away her collections for the day in a bigger bag.
> 
> i don't get it. is she broke? i don't think so. living in a high-end brand new condo is not for a broke person. is she a hoarder? maybe she's doing it for fun or just for extra cash. i still don't get it.


I know for a fact that a jolly old man who looks like santa and panhandles all day long along robson and davie has $$$. i saw him exiting my friends condo. We inquired with neighbors and they know he has been living there since it was built so its not like hes renting. I guess when youre old and want to be useful you do these kind of things. at least she was only getting bottles and not pretending to be poor to get sympathy


----------



## Baos (Apr 22, 2010)

I have a night vision security camera on my back yard. I've seen my fair share of creeps and weirdos. I also recently added two blue heeler pups. I'm not sure you can find a dog more protective of your belongings. I've heard of burglers getting held by these dogs(by instinct) with pieces of clothes torn off. They apparently are vindictive and will wait until you trap yourself before they growl. It also seems that monthly there is some k9 unit down the street doing some sort of search. My dad was randomly attacked for 'walking funny?' on a cross walk.


----------



## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

I've had 3 bikes stolen from me so far. They were locked too.

The crappiest one was my last bike. It was my fav one too. I had it locked in my apartment balcony (ground floor). You would have to jump a 8 feet tall fence to get in to my balcony.
I went on a vacation for 2 weeks and when I came back, the bike was gone. I was like WTF! I was living at that apartment for more than 2 years and this never happened before...
I didn't get any bike after that...got a car instead


----------



## Baos (Apr 22, 2010)

Tracers said:


> careful with the dog!!! If a dog bites anyone, including an intruder, they will be put down and you CAN be sued out of house and home  a "beware of dog" sign is actually used against you in a lawsuit because it admits you are aware of the liability.
> 
> Always ask for ID if youre unsure, any charity or volunteer organization makes their ppl wear badges or nametags, etc...


Hmm, my city has an interesting bylaw.. It states that you get a fine for harassing a dog of $250 I believe. I would think entering my property would serve as dog harassment and would wave his liability. I know that such a liability was recently waved when a person was walking their dog 'off leash' in an alley and their dog decided to run under a fence that was 5 feet onto the neighbors property and meet two mastiffs. It wasn't pretty but the small dog survived with stitches. The vicious mastiff in particular was a dog my neighbor rescued and hasn't been able to break the habit. So my neighbor takes caution to keep them behind a fence well into his property which also satisfies every aspect of the bylaw.


----------



## Elmo (Apr 21, 2010)

kelly528 said:


> I think they have to bite someone 3 times, unless the mauling is very serious.
> 
> Very interesting about the 'beware of dog' sign! I wonder if there's anything you can do (ie post a 'no tresspassing' sign) to make a good countersuit case in case an intruder sues you for the bite


Nope!
They just have to show signs of aggression and actually bite / growl / scare you.

We had a great pyrenees, beautiful animal she was. Anyway she would let you in and you could load our pillow case with our stuff ... but you weren't leaving until we got home and I gave you permission! She wouldn't lay a paw on you but with 165 pounds of white hairy muscle and some really big teeth she was able to convince every thief who walked through our unlocked front door.

As for signs, don't put one up. It is an admission of your problem dog. And just for the idiots out there ... it is standard operating procedure for the police to shoot the aggressive acting dog first and then ask questions!

Our neighbour had his side garage door kicked in recently. He has a few really tall bushy trees in front of it, the thief must have been scared off cuz my neighbour says all that was missing was a small jar of spare pocket change.

If it's any comfort, the home alarm is a great idea, we use alarmforce cuz it's wireless with a cell backup system. My dad uses them because they have the keyring fob with an emergency panic button ... the "home" or "stay" feature is great!

Your best defense is still a locked gate ... you know those cheap gate clamps with the hole for a pad lock, well we use a mini version of a climbing "D-ring"

what ever you do, be carefull! Mentally unstable people are usually not taking their meds and some can be really agressive / violent.


----------



## Victor (Apr 21, 2010)

Tracers said:


> careful with the dog!!! If a dog bites anyone, including an intruder, they will be put down and you CAN be sued out of house and home  a "beware of dog" sign is actually used against you in a lawsuit because it admits you are aware of the liability.
> 
> Always ask for ID if youre unsure, any charity or volunteer organization makes their ppl wear badges or nametags, etc...


I remember reading that a long time ago on some dog forum, but I thought it was only in the states that something that ridiculous could be used against you. I guess people can always use a sign like "guard dog on duty" or "dog on premise"


----------

