Almost Arrested for working

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roger3829

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Torrington, CT
This is a first.

Working on a basment remodel doing the finish work with carpenter. The carpenter is in the new room, I'm tying the new circuits into the panel. I here him talking to someone. Then he calls to me "Hey, come in here. We are getting arrested".:confused:

So I walk out into the room and 3 police men are standing there. They wanted to know what we were doing. Van in driveway, company name on 3 sides, both of us wearing tool belts, my first thought was "here's your sign.....". Told he we were working. They wanted ID's. Gave him business card, driver licenses..... then they left.

Apparently the "neighbor" saw us working, knew the owner was away on vacation, knew nobody was sopposed to be in the house. He apparently didn't see the work being done in the house for the last 3 weeks. The home onwer must not have told him that he was finishing the basement while he was on vacation.

Did I forget to mention it was 8:30pm?:smile:
 
sort of related....

sort of related....

some towns have ordinances for construction in residences that you cant work between certain hours.
 
Had a situation here where people pretending to be contractors were actually striping out the house for salvage of copper and other items. Had no right to be in there, so neighbors contacted police to "check it out". They were doing this in the middle of the day. Police arrested 3 people for theft and trespassing.
 
Maybe he thought you charged so much it was a crime :D
 
Hands up!

Hands up!

Dad was working at a bank in the middle of the night pulling cable and installing some new terminals. He accidently bumped one of the under-counter silent alarms while pulling some cables. He makes a run to the vehicle for more stuff and walks out the back door to guns drawn. There were no bank employees there and the owner had to come down to rescue him.
 
The cops were just doing their job.

The neighbors were doing their neighbor a favor.

So long as the cops didn't harass you what's the big deal? I don't see how you were 'almost arrested'. You were just being checked for validity based upon a complaint. It's not like the cops confiscated your donuts for evidence. They were just making a prudent attempt to protect a home owner's property.

The one in error was the person that owned the house you were working on that didn't tell the watchful neighbor that you would be there.

If I were in your shoes I would have had a good chuckle out of it and thanked the cops for protecting the neighborhood.

Did you take the time to give the cops a little tour to show off your work, give them all cards to take with them and try to get a few more customers? If not you may have missed a golden opportunity.
 
K8MHZ said:
The cops were just doing their job.

The neighbors were doing their neighbor a favor.

So long as the cops didn't harass you what's the big deal? I don't see how you were 'almost arrested'. You were just being checked for validity based upon a complaint. It's not like the cops confiscated your donuts for evidence. They were just making a prudent attempt to protect a home owner's property.

The one in error was the person that owned the house you were working on that didn't tell the watchful neighbor that you would be there.

If I were in your shoes I would have had a good chuckle out of it and thanked the cops for protecting the neighborhood.

Did you take the time to give the cops a little tour to show off your work, give them all cards to take with them and try to get a few more customers? If not you may have missed a golden opportunity.
Click to expand...

You are just jealous because the cops in Detroit dont care enough to check on a residence, they have bigger problems (Like the Mayor)
 
we had a job on a local ballfield where we had to replace some cable to the scoreboard that had been stolen. our guy was out at the score board just getting finished up and here comes the cops. they ided him called the boss and got the parks director out there before it was all said and done. the whole time he says im putting it back not stealing it. but they were just doing there job and we all got a good laugh out of it.
 
K8MHZ said:
The cops were just doing their job.

The neighbors were doing their neighbor a favor.

So long as the cops didn't harass you what's the big deal? I don't see how you were 'almost arrested'. You were just being checked for validity based upon a complaint. It's not like the cops confiscated your donuts for evidence. They were just making a prudent attempt to protect a home owner's property.

The one in error was the person that owned the house you were working on that didn't tell the watchful neighbor that you would be there.

If I were in your shoes I would have had a good chuckle out of it and thanked the cops for protecting the neighborhood.

Did you take the time to give the cops a little tour to show off your work, give them all cards to take with them and try to get a few more customers? If not you may have missed a golden opportunity.
Click to expand...

I know they were just doing their job. They came in with a bad attitude expecting to find something "wrong". When they didn't find anything wrong, their attitude didn't change and it was kind of harrassing. They could have eased up.

They home owner did make an error in not telling the neighbor as well.

We did get a good laugh after especially when we had to pick up a buddy who was a cop in another town and told him the story.:)
 
I was going to a job once and I hit a pig, It had a collar and everything, There were no houses close by so I just put the pig on the side of the road and took off, After I got to the job and started working for awhile the police showed up, they asked the carpenter where I was and came to ask me some questions.

They asked If I hit a pig on my way to work? and I replied "Yes, I did" they started laying into me about evading responsibility and leaving the scene of an accident, I start thinking and ask the cops how they found me, they reply, " the pig squealed" Baw hahaha....:grin:
 
mivey said:
Dad was working at a bank in the middle of the night pulling cable and installing some new terminals. He accidently bumped one of the under-counter silent alarms while pulling some cables. He makes a run to the vehicle for more stuff and walks out the back door to guns drawn. There were no bank employees there and the owner had to come down to rescue him.
Click to expand...

I've worked in many banks... "accidentally bumping" the silent alarm is quite a feat, the button is recessed within a cylinder and takes a bit of pressure to depress. (This is required by the Fed. for all FDIC deposit orginizations.)

We have, however, had a few wiseguys who "wanted to see what would happen..."
 
stickboy1375 said:
I was going to a job once and I hit a pig, It had a collar and everything, There were no houses close by so I just put the pig on the side of the road and took off, After I got to the job and started working for awhile the police showed up, they asked the carpenter where I was and came to ask me some questions.

They asked If I hit a pig on my way to work? and I replied "Yes, I did" they started laying into me about evading responsibility and leaving the scene of an accident, I start thinking and ask the cops how they found me, they reply, " the pig squealed" Baw hahaha....:grin:
Click to expand...

Don't you have the Flat Cat law? If you hit a domesticated animal you MUST make an attempt to find and notify the owner.
 
LawnGuyLandSparky said:
I've worked in many banks... "accidentally bumping" the silent alarm is quite a feat, the button is recessed within a cylinder and takes a bit of pressure to depress. (This is required by the Fed. for all FDIC deposit orginizations.)

We have, however, had a few wiseguys who "wanted to see what would happen..."
Click to expand...
I would be VERY surprised if you have worked in more banks than my dad. You do not know what kind of button was in this bank. The bank is an FDIC member. I have no reason to question your knowledge of the FED requirements.

It was a silent alarm. It was not set off on purpose. It was located in the teller area. It was accidently bumped and required no "great feat".

[edit: typo]
 
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Once we set off a silent fire alarm in a building. Heard the trucks coming down the street and said man that sounds close then they stopped and one of my guys said yeah really close. Next thing I know there are ten firemen all in their turn out gear asking what the problem was. Huge building, working nights, Why didn't you answer the phone when we called to verify the alarm? Why would I answer the phone in the middle of the night?:-?

Second time I was working on a TI in a little shopping center, look out the window and here come three squad cars code 3 cops jump out, guns drawn, running into the pharmacy next door. Pretty soon they are over on my side asking me if I had been messing with the alarm wires. Nope would have no reason too. They leave. About an hour later when I'm running the flex through the holes I drilled in the top plate I find this mangle of wires that didn't even slow down my drill. Seems that the pharmacy used to be bigger and they shrunk it down, but didn't relocate all of the wiring.:D
 
mivey said:
I would be VERY surprised if you have worked in more banks than my dad. You do not know what kind of button was in this bank. The bank is an FDIC member. I have no reason to question your knowledge of the FED requirements.

It was a silent alarm. It was not set off on purpose. It was located in the teller area. It was accidently bumped and required no "great feat".

[edit: typo]
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to suggest it wasn't hit by accident, just that they're designed to not be hit by accident. (They're not exactly doorbell buttons.)

And they're not just silent alarms, they activate other things, including all the old 35mm film cameras, none of which ever seemed to be properly focused...
 
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