Does this seem suspicious?

[Erik88]

When I got home today I noticed that my door near the lock seemed to be chipped. Maybe it's been like this but I feel like I would have noticed it before. My fiance and are pretty observant, especially when it comes to the house. She agreed that she didn't think it was like that before. We also found wood splinters on the ground in front of the door. Very small but visible none the less.

 

Then, when I was asking her about it, she noticed the big bread tie on the ground in front of my door. There is no way the wind blew it there so it had to have been dropped. 

 

Coincidence or suspicious? It seems like if someone wanted to break in they could have just kicked the door in. Is there some trick with these bread ties that I'm not aware of where you can open locks?

 

I'll pose pictures as soon as my phone is willing to work.

[Erik88]

 

[dralarms]

Yea, that looks fresh. Don't know about the bread tie thing.

[TripleDigitRide]

Looks awfully long to be a bread tie.

[gjohnsoniv]

Were they trying to push the lock open?  It looks to me like the curved part of that lock is facing outward vs inward.  My guess is that they were trying to run that bit of wire around to pull the locking piece back in open the door.  Kinda like the credit card trick, only with a wire.  I take it there is also part of the frame that might be in the way of that lock?

Edited December 13, 2014 by gjohnsoniv

[TGO David]

There's no such thing as a coincidence.  Someone was trying to get in.

[Joe357]

IMO, to me it looks like someone was trying to jimmy the lock

[NRA]

maybe it was santa coming early 

[Erik88]

Looks awfully long to be a bread tie.

You're right. I wasn't sure what to call it. It's a foot long I'd say.

[TrickyNicky]

Call the police. There's not much they can do but it may be helpful for them to note in case it's an ongoing issue in your neighborhood.

Any bad kids on your block?

[btq96r]

David is right, that's enough to make me think someone was trying to break in.  You might want to ask your neighbors if they have seen anything similar on there doors and let them know what happened to yours.

[Erik88]

Were they trying to push the lock open? It looks to me like the curved part of that lock is facing outward vs inward. My guess is that they were trying to run that bit of wire around to pull the locking piece back in open the door. Kinda like the credit card trick, only with a wire. I take it there is also part of the frame that might be in the way of that lock?

I don't know...? I can't see how they would get in. The deadbolt isn't going to be opened with a wire.

I'm sure my dog was barking if someone was at the door. I wonder why they didn't just try to kick the door in.. Edited December 13, 2014 by Erik88

[QuietDan]

Call the police. There's not much they can do but it may be helpful for them to note in case it's an ongoing issue in your neighborhood.

Any bad kids on your block?

This. This may be going around and the cops can use the data point. You may save yourself and others some grief.

[Erik88]

Call the police. There's not much they can do but it may be helpful for them to note in case it's an ongoing issue in your neighborhood.

Any bad kids on your block?

We were walking a few months ago and discovered a house behind us was broken into. I called the sheriff. The front door was wide opened. It was empty and for sale. I assume they were after copper or appliances.


And yes, there are a few sht bags. Last week my dog started barking at some thugs out front. I watched them steal an old mop from my trash can at the curb and proceed to smash it.

[Murgatroy]

Yeah, that looks like someone attempted to gain access. If you are fast, kicking a door in works. But it is obvious, and any passer-by can call the cops. Much better to jimmy the door and then close and lock it behind you.

[Erik88]

I'm really thankful we have an alarm. My dogs won't do much but they do look scary. I'll call the sheriff tomorrow. Are there any inexpensive cameras I could get?

I'm interviewing for jobs in TN so we hopefully won't be here much longer.

[Erik88]

Here is a slightly better picture

Edited December 13, 2014 by Erik88

[monkeylizard]

Since you're trying to leave, it may not be worth the hassle, but if it were me and I was staying longer, I'd be replacing that wooden door with a steel one tomorrow.

[hipower]

Call the police. There's not much they can do but it may be helpful for them to note in case it's an ongoing issue in your neighborhood.

Any bad kids on your block?

 

Any New Kids on the Block?

[otnman]

My guess being in the door and hardware biz...they tried to use the tie around the thumb latch on the pull handle to keep it unlatched while they went to work on the deadbolt above...don't know why they would have disturbed the wood on that part of the latch...I would assume you can't lock that part...seems like they didn't know what they were doing... Edited December 13, 2014 by otnman

[bud]

. Edited August 5, 2015 by bud

[JWC]

C'mon man taking something in a trash can by the curb isn't stealing. I'm a dumpster diving sum beach. If i saw an old mop I'd likely take it and maybe even go to smashing it to get the funky mop head off and keep the handle. But I ain't no thief. You just profilin' haha



Looks like a thief in training tried to jimmy your door though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Patton]

You really need a deadbolt in conjunction with that "entry lockset". They can still key bump a deadbolt, but it takes skills.

[Luke E.]

 Someone was trying to get in. My wife and I were staying at my parents while they were out of town once last year and they have commercial doors and locks so even when you open with a key from outside you have to unlock from the inside or it will be locked again when the door closes. She didn't and it DID which left her out in the cold and not only was the house key locked inside but so were her car keys and the first arm load of groceries. I used a skinning knife a piece of speaker wire looking stuff, about the size or your bread time looking wire, to get in. Like someone above mentioned, if the curved part of the bolt/lug thingy is facing inward then all that is needed is a piece of wire to loop around it and something flat to catch and hold it out of the way once the wire disengages it. I would have the police or sheriff's dept. come write up a report just in case something happens later or you find out something is missing and that they actually made it inside. After breaking into my parents nothing was broken and they'd have never known had I not have told them so it's possible that someone could have locked and shut the door behind them.

[Erik88]

 Someone was trying to get in. My wife and I were staying at my parents while they were out of town once last year and they have commercial doors and locks so even when you open with a key from outside you have to unlock from the inside or it will be locked again when the door closes. She didn't and it DID which left her out in the cold and not only was the house key locked inside but so were her car keys and the first arm load of groceries. I used a skinning knife a piece of speaker wire looking stuff, about the size or your bread time looking wire, to get in. Like someone above mentioned, if the curved part of the bolt/lug thingy is facing inward then all that is needed is a piece of wire to loop around it and something flat to catch and hold it out of the way once the wire disengages it. I would have the police or sheriff's dept. come write up a report just in case something happens later or you find out something is missing and that they actually made it inside. After breaking into my parents nothing was broken and they'd have never known had I not have told them so it's possible that someone could have locked and shut the door behind them.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'll call them later today. I don't think they made entry because our alarm was armed. I'm tempted to mount a camera on the front porch though.