Another police impersonator home invasion--in very rural Maine

[Maine_Nurse]

http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/01/24/news/police-man-pretending-to-be-officer-robs-home/

Scumbag tells couple he's a State Trooper then proceeds to rob them. They got very, very lucky.
Apparently the police response time was 20 minutes, that was very lucky for the couple also as it is often 40 minutes or more in this area for an emergency. This is a town of about 450 people, many elderly. Just a few miles up the road from me.

Do you see why us rural folks not only like to have our firearms for hunting and target shooting but also for protection?

[redwitch]

1. By the time they figured out he was an imposter...

I would imagine it would have been to late to go get their weapon. They could have ended up dead instead of robbed.

[Maine_Nurse]

2. Possibly in this case

but maybe not. Typically, however, these douchebags try to force their way in, giving you some lead time. At least one person might have been able to get one. My wife was able to get her pistol when we had a forcible home invasion 4 years ago.

[wtmusic]

3. Yes, I do see why.

And do you see why making it harder to buy handguns, by:

* Requiring mental health evaluations
* A federally-mandated 6-month waiting period
* Federally-mandated training
* Closing the gun show loophole
* Requiring background checks on all gun sales
* limiting the number of handguns that can be bought at one time
* strengthening anti-trafficking laws

would not discourage any law-abiding person with a plan (like you) from getting all the protection they need, but make it much more difficult for criminals to buy a handgun?

When 60% of the handguns used to commit a crime come from 1% of the dealers, there's a problem and a source. Let's deal with it.

[Maine_Nurse]

5. Uhhhh, criminals aren't going to pay attention to laws anymore than they already do. nt

[wtmusic]

6. If they can't get the tools to commit a crime, who cares. nt

[Maine_Nurse]

12. Of course they "can get the tools" or make them

Hell, when it comes right down to it, it's pretty simple, cheap, and quick to build an effective firearm in a home workshop with about $15 in materials from your plumbing store. Heck, inner city scum used to make functional .22 zip guns out of car antennas. You will never do anything that can keep criminals from obtaining or making weapons.

[wtmusic]

13. "Inner city scum"?

If you want to hang yourself completely, next time specify a skin color - although it's not really necessary at this point. :eyes:

You can leave the 1950s zip gun nonsense in your bag, unless you would rather go up against someone with say, a Glock 19? Didn't think so.

It would benefit you greatly to come down out of the woods and talk to some people who can't afford a nice country home, instead of holing up and indulging in paranoid fantasies.

[Maine_Nurse]

15. Oh please, scum are scum no matter where they are.

We have plenty of our own as does every other place. Someone who makes a functional firearm to commit a crime is scum. Period. Zip guns were generally an item originally found in inner cities (as gangs were originally only in larger cities). IIRC, it was mostly white gangs that started with sip guns too. Remember what happened the last time you tried your false race crap?

You are the one that said more laws would keep criminals from getting guns. I was demonstrating that you were engaging in a complete fantasy.

[wtmusic]

19. Wouldn't matter to you going up against a Glock 19 or a "zip gun" then

Just want to confirm.

[wtmusic]

29. *cue sound of winter wind through Maine pine trees*

Still waiting.

[rrneck]

30. It would matter

if you had five months to go bofore you could get said firearm.

[wtmusic]

31. Yep, responsibility is a bitch.

If the waiting period was two weeks, you might get robbed tomorrow.

And then they might have a bigger clip than you. And then...and then...

Sometimes you just want to crawl under the covers! :cry:

[rrneck]

43. It is

When somebody else forces it on you without assuming any responsibility of their own.

[PavePusher]

65. What do you suggest people do to provide for their security...

while they wait? I am assuming you won't volunteer to help them in any way, shape or form. Authoritarian assholes never do exert themselves.

[pipi_k]

16. Huh?

"Inner city scum" have a specified skin color?

Are you saying that only black/brown people live in the inner city?

[wtmusic]

18. Where did "black/brown" people come from?

How racist.

[pipi_k]

22. It came from your statement to the OP....

"If you want to hang yourself completely, next time specify a skin color - although it's not really necessary at this point."



OK...go ahead. Explain two things:

1. What skin color was the OP supposed to specify in order to really hang herself completely?

2. And why was it "really not necessary at this point" to specify a skin color along with a statement about Inner Cities?


Explain those two statements, please.

[wtmusic]

25. ok

1. Any skin color
2. Implying "scum" are unique to inner cities shows the same cultural bias responsible for most racism. And yes, the implication is clear, despite OP's subsequent efforts to backpedal.

[pipi_k]

27. Actually...

the implication was only "clear" to yourself.

When I hear the term "inner city gangs" I don't automatically get a mental image of black or brown people.

I think of the gangs in the movie "West Side Story". Or the gang in the movie "The Wanderers".



sometimes the problem doesn't lie with what's said as much as it does with how it's interpreted.

[Maine_Nurse]

34. Backpedal my ass

As previously noted, my wife was the victim of a home invasion here in Maine. The scumbag was, well, a scumbag. A white scumbag. Our crimes are, by a very very large proportion, white on white. And obviously a town of 800 is not an inner city. Wow, you need to get a grip. However the FACTS are that, for criminal purposes, (the technique had actually been intentionally taught to certain servicemembers in WWII), Zip guns were largely popularized amongst scum in the inner cities. At least initially, I believe they were predominantly used by white gang members. You are so far off the mark as to be funny.

[wtmusic]

36. Sorry to hear about your experience

and frankly I don't blame you for arming yourself. In your situation, I would do the same thing.

Did the perp use a zip gun? If not, why not (in your estimation)?

[Maine_Nurse]

39. No, he used a tire iron

He dropped it in my living room when the wifey grabbed her pistol and laid down on her bed for a firing support. I'm guessing that the fact she was buck naked coming out of the shower might have bought her a little time, hehehe. We have no idea if he was otherwise armed or had something in the car he parked at the neighbor's house (they were at work).

[wtmusic]

40. Happy ending

on that we can agree. :thumbsup:

[Maine_Nurse]

44. Yes it was!

But it is scary too. We have a pretty low crime rate by other states' standards, but a large portion of our crimes have become home invasions and burglaries for prescription drugs or money to buy drugs. We even had a particularly nasty machete home invasion a few years ago. Seriously damaged a guy and his daughter. At least they caught those pricks.

The day of our home invasion, another 8 houses on our road were hit. The bad thing about small town life is that everyone knows everyone. The scum targeted elderly and people known to have serious medical conditions. My wife got unlucky because her car was in the shop and she was in the shower so it probably appeared that nobody was home. What is even more rotten is that about 10 days later, after most people got their prescriptions refilled, all of the homes that had been originally hit and who had nobody at home were robbed again. My truck was in the yard that day or we'd have probably gotten it again. We have had people severely injured and even killed when coming home and interrupting a burglary in progress. We have nobody but ourselves to rely on out here. Just a fact of life in a rural area, which is why the scum target places like this for these types of crimes.

I don't disagree that many areas have firearms problems. However we really don't. We only have around 12 firearms murders a year in this state. Many years, the number of legal police/self-defense killings are about the same as that. We just can't stand it when people try to pass national legislation that impacts us, when we aren't the place that needs it. And I still stand by my idea that existing laws would serve most areas just fine if they were properly enforced or if other things like plea bargains from felonies to misdemeanors didn't short-circuit the whole process.

[Katya Mullethov]

46. 10 days later huh ?

Was it the same guy already outta jail , or the other half of his crew ?

[Maine_Nurse]

50. They were never caught for that

The wife didn't exactly go running down the street after them gunning away. She swapped firearms for a shotgun, secured the house, then sat armed in the bathtub until I got there (I beat the police). She saw him jump in a car parked at the neighbors and get driven off through a window. Police were over 30 minutes getting there, we got lucky and there was one a few towns over.

The guy that was actually in our home, was arrested about a year and a half ago for bank robbery. The wife freaked when she saw his pic in the paper. He was a complete idiot and a severe opioid addict. He robbed 2 banks in his regular clothes (one was the place he did his banking) and buried what money they recovered in his grandmother's yard. He was actually caught because shortly after the last robbery, he got nailed having drugs mailed to him. Then he was matched up to surveillance photos from the bank.

I never said our criminals were smart, lol.

[Katya Mullethov]

58. It is all merely anecdotal of course , and not worth spit

Let us discuss how we may better accommodate them , and childproof OUR world so they may run free .

[wtmusic]

47. Honestly, I don't think what I proposed would impact you that much

National legislation does impact everyone, but that's part of the price of living in a big country - to which there are many benefits as well. Similarly, I'm probably better off than most Americans so I pay a higher tax rate. I don't mind at all, because I should bear a larger part of the burden than those less fortunate. We all benefit from a society of shared values and purpose.

I campaigned for Howard Dean in 2004 and admired his state-by-state approach to gun legislation, but in retrospect I don't think it would have worked. For trafficking purposes, state borders are arbitrary.

With regard to enforcing existing laws, the NRA has consistently tried to tie ATF's hands so they share the blame. And IMO their rider mandating the CDC can't conduct any research on handgun casualties is unconscionable. Let's get to the truth of the matter, whatever that may be.

[Maine_Nurse]

52. As I've noted, I'm not an overall fan of the NRA.

aside from the general thought that I don't agree with additional broad national firearms restrictions. There are better organizations our there for my purposes.

I will sort of agree with you that some things wouldn't have altered what we did: Within 2 hours I had 2 additional handguns I borrowed from friends so that we could have one in rooms on both sides of our entry door and one for the wife to carry in her car (she had always been permitted but never actually carried). But I did purchase 2 the next business day so that my friends could have theirs back and the wife could have something that would fit her hand better. I wouldn't want that restricted, nor would I want someone telling me that she could only have 10 rounds in something that only fires a marginal defense caliber (small hands don't handle recoil well in oversized handguns and small handguns increase recoil dramatically).

[Katya Mullethov]

66. " People ask , "How do you do it ?" The answer is simple . We screw the other guy "

" And pass the savings on to YOU ! "

[shadowrider]

20. I've activated this cool feature which means I can't see the post

you're responding to, but I'm sure it's the same person that called me racist for using the term "gangs".

[pipi_k]

24. Racist for using the term "gangs"?

Why would that be, I wonder...

I'll bet it's because only white people belong to gangs.


:evilgrin:

[shadowrider]

28. Here ya go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x363206#364032

[pipi_k]

33. Looks like it was somebody else...

at least as far as I can tell...

[friendly_iconoclast]

35. True, but it was a member of the same choir, singing the same tune.

[PavePusher]

49. Scum can't be Asian? Anglo? Purple-polka-dotted? Who's the racist here? n/t

[davepc]

37. Watch Pakistani pesants make automatic rifles and ammo in the moutains

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6tXy2TwaSc

Their using tools found in most any high school shop class.

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. What a joke. Like they're going to open fire on someone saying they're the cops.

That would have got them dead real fast.

[pipi_k]

7. Actually I think the sensible thing to do..

is to ask for ID first...through a locked door.

If no ID, tell the "cop" you're going to call the station s/he claims to work for to validate. While the "cop" waits outside...NOT in the house.


If they've never heard of him at the station, that's when you say there's an intruder at your door and ask for help.

If the intruder attempts to break in, shoot.


This is why it's important to always keep the doors locked even if you're home.


Unfortunately, this is why dirtbags tend to target the elderly. They're usually too trusting for their own good. :(

[Maine_Nurse]

11. That is pretty much what I did

I didn't have to call in because my son is a deputy so I knew what their ID's looked like and this deputy had his. He even told me "good job" for being cautious and armed when someone showed up at my door at 2am.

[pipi_k]

14. Good for you....it pays to be cautious during the day and...

it pays to be VERY suspicious at 2 AM.

Any reasonable cop should not mind if a homeowner asks for ID

It's also a good idea...and pretty easy in a rural setting...to be familiar with one's police force and the people who work on it.

[Maine_Nurse]

17. Actually, knowing the force is really tough

in rural Maine. Most towns don't have a police department so we rely on deputies or troopers. Obviously, if any live in the town, we know them, but when there is a call or a drive through, it is whoever is on duty at the time. We have a trooper that lives 3 towns over but that is about it. Other than him and a couple of my son's friends that I have met off duty, I really don't know any of them as most live 40-50 miles away.

[pipi_k]

26. Oh wow...you really ARE rural!

I'm rural too, but at least we have a Police Chief and at least one full time and one half time officer.

Like you, though, we often have to rely on the State Police, whose barracks are some 7 to 10 miles away.

[Maine_Nurse]

38. Most towns in Maine have no police forces. Probably 80% by number.

You have to remember that this state is about 35000 square miles in size with only 1.3 million residents. About 1/3 of the population lives in the lower portion of the state. The community next to my town has almost the same population, but it isn't even a town or plantation, it is a completely unorganized territory governed only by the county. Our nearest police department (state and county) are 30 miles away, most of it back roads. Depending on where the the few troopers or deputies on duty at night are, it can be a very very long time before they get here.

[Maine_Nurse]

9. Huh?

Who said anything about opening fire? I've stayed armed at the door until ID was provided by police (another case of asking for directions because he saw my lights on late at night). Its not that big of a deal. Police here don't freak out about citizens with firearms.

Even if this was actually an officer, once he begins to commit a crime in a home, he would be fair game for any homeowner.

[jonnyblitz]

8. I was born and raised an hour northwest of Bangor so I have

heard of that town. My elderly parents still live there and my father is well armed. I am personally indifferent to the whole gun issue but can't fucking STAND the NRA.

[Maine_Nurse]

10. I'm no fan of them either, there are other better groups.nt

[Gormy Cuss]

21. No, I don't see why this justifies having guns for protection

and I'm from Maine. Like jonnyblitz, I don't have a problem with gun ownership in general. However I don't understand being armed out of xenophobia.

[friendly_iconoclast]

32. How about being armed because the police have a *long* response time...

...as described by the OP.

And what's with the "xenophobia" remark? Are you perchance a licensed telepsychologist, or do you just pretend to be one on the

Internet?

[Gormy Cuss]

51. Read the thread.

The OP's post on zip guns displays xenophobia. Period.

[Maine_Nurse]

57. No, I don't worry about zip guns...

read the post. I was making a point to the other poster that even if you could completely destroy all existing handguns in the country, the criminals would simply make their own. Zip guns, pipe shotguns, etc, etc, etc. They are all quick and easy to make.

Frankly, I don't worry about intruders with firearms vs those with tire irons or no weapons at all. It's all the same to me.

[Gormy Cuss]

62. Did, and your use of "inner city" was already discussed.

I wouldn't conclude from that a racist intent but it does display a certain fear of others - in this case those who live in cities.

[friendly_iconoclast]

61. We know from xenophobia around here. Read some of the posts about "gun culture".

The way some people talk about gun owners, you'd think they were all starring in The Hills Have Eyes...

[Gormy Cuss]

64. I understand.

I usually don't venture into this forum because this isn't a hot button issue for me. This thread was moved here at about the time I posted, so here I am. There are some people who have irrational fear of gun owners without actually knowing very many of you, and that is straight up xenophobia.

[Maine_Nurse]

42. Then you are familiar with the December incident

where the homeowner in Washington county was lured out of his home then attacked by two armed intruders who were later found to have been responsible for numerous burglaries and a few more home invasions, including an elderly lady. What should the homeowner have done? Let them continue to beat him? He was perfectly justified in killing his attacker. Police here gave a cheer for that one.

[Gormy Cuss]

53. I'm not familiar with the incident.

I also didn't say that there weren't times when being armed came in handy. I was commenting on the mentality of arming oneself specifically in the off chance that someone would come to your home to do you harm. You stated upthread that you've experienced a home invasion. That would explain why you're less fearful when you are armed before answering the door. That's understandable.

However, most people never will experience a home invasion or robbery at home yet they have a high level of fear about it. The fear is wholly out of proportion to the risk. That's what I don't understand. There's often an element of xenophobia mixed in (evident from attitudes about city living,for example.) When I left ME I moved to Boston as did many of my friends. We ALL had stories of relatives who thought we were taking our lives in our hands just by living there -- these were people who had never been to Boston.

[Maine_Nurse]

56. Here is the link

to the December 2010 Easton attack that resulted in a dead attacker:
http://maineblues.blogspot.com/2010/12/arrest-made-in-relation-to-eastbrook.html

Here is another home invasion in December 2010 in Frenchville:
http://www.necn.com/12/05/10/4-arrested-in-Maine-home-invasion/landing_newengland.html?blockID=366739&feedID=4206

And here is the 2007 Pittston machete attack:
http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Jury-selection-underway-in-Pittston-machete-attack-trial.html

Overall, the number of the offenses still isn't great, but the rate has increased dramatically, especially in very rural areas with no police departments. Even more so because of the limited population in most of Maine. The robbery count (which includes home invasions as that is not a separate crime) jumped 20% between 2008 and 2009. Robberies overall are now 10 time higher than murders and burglaries are 10 times the robberies. It sucks being the oxycontin addict capital of the country.

When you consider that the urban area of boston is literally almost exactly 20 times smaller than the state of Maine, yet has almost 4 times the population that our entire state does, little differences in raw numbers of offenses make for a dramatic increase in incidence and likelihood up here. When we are up to having a few such occurrences every month, mostly in the small rural areas, it is cause for concern.

I worked off and on in Boston as recently as 2001, and I never found it to be particularly worrisome as long as you used your head. Then again, it wasn't too hard to find an MDC cop and you didn't wait too long for them in an emergency.

[Gormy Cuss]

63. MDC cops were the last ones I'd look to for help in Boston.

They're staties now and may be a bit better but they were park police, hardly the center of tough law enforcement. That honor went to the urban departments in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Revere and Chelsea and a few other fine towns.

I used Boston as an example because it's something people from away would understand, but I have relatives in western and northern Maine who are terrified to go to Portland too. PORTLAND, for Pete's sake.


eta: Thanks for the links.

[Gormy Cuss]

67. I've looked at the links. Two incidents in December, 200+ miles apart.

That's hardly a reason for widespread panic across the sparsely populated half of the state. If one had been in Berlin NH and the other in Fort Kent, would anyone be linking them together in the Pine Tree state? Probably not.

[AtheistCrusader]

23. Unusually long response time.

Cops usually go apeshit over impersonation cases. Right up there with an active shooter, for immediate response mandates.

[Maine_Nurse]

41. I don't think you understand

We are at least 20 minutes during good summer weather from an EMS response for a myocardial infarction and they are 15 miles away. During our long winter, extend that to 30 most of the time.

When the troopers or deputies are 60-80 road miles away, it takes a while. Especially at night in moose territory or on snow-packed roads.

[AtheistCrusader]

45. Ah, I didn't fully appreciate the distances involved.

[Katya Mullethov]

48. Some parts of the country are impassable for months

Cant get to a grocery store or CCW class for 5-8 months at a stretch .

[shadowrider]

54. And if you do get to a CCW class, they're usually full and you have to reschedule

From what I've heard.

[Maine_Nurse]

55. We aren't that bad, lol

Although we do have quite a few seasonal roads that are often used as shortcuts during the summer months.

I did once live and work on an island in Alaska where police response was by boat if the weather was good enough. Coastie medics earned their keep in that area doing some pretty advanced field work because transport to hospitals wasn't safely possible for days on end sometimes.

[KansasVoter]

59. Shotgun should work.

[Maine_Nurse]

60. They are great for defense...

but a little tough to tuck in a purse, glovebox, or a desk drawer. Also can't carry one loaded and concealed with a CWP here, either in or out of a vehicle.

[benEzra]

68. Shotgun, carbine, or pistol.

Pistol wins in portability; rifle wins in capacity, precision, and limited penetration (assuming appropriate JHP); shotgun wins in sheer lethality, at the expense of recoil and capacity.