Sorry this is a bit long winded, but I just want to give all the details before you answer if I'm now the crotchety old guy.
So, about an hr ago see this truck pull into my driveway then pull out and park in front of my house (I live in a nice sub parking on the street is pretty rare). It's an older model pickup that seems out of place and It pulls up directly in front of my house and turns off its lights, after sitting in my driveway long enough to catch my attention. So, I go upstairs and grab my flashlight to see what's happening; when people park like that in front of my house, I always go outside for a few just to see what's going on. When I got upstairs I looked out the window and the truck had pulled to the other side of the road with its lights off and running. By the time i got back downstairs, the truck was gone.
Here's where it gets interesting...
I walk out on my front porch and there are two people dressed in all black standing by my neighbor's garage door. (The neighbors are on a cruise, btw. And being the neighborhood socialites they are, they have been broadcasting the details of their vacation all over Facebook. A huge no-no in my book) I shine the two people who are dressed in black from head to toe, both with hoods up, with my extremely bright flashlight and they both freeze. I ask them what exactly are they doing... no answer. They start to walk towards me, neither of them have said a word at this point, my non flashlight holding hand hand moves towards my belt line. I (in my scary beard guy voice) tell them that is far enough, as they're about to come up my driveway. I lectured them, in scary beard guy voice, that they weren't making good life choices. They said they were going to ding dong ditch and I asked why the hell were they on the side of the godd**m house (now in even scarier beard guy voice). I then asked if they were going to f*** with my house. They both now said no sir. I told them good because that would be a really bad f***ng decision. Then made them walk home.
I called the police afterwards because it didn't seem right. Why did the truck drop them off and leave? Why ding dong ditch the house with no cars in the driveway, at 11:00 pm? Why were they at the garage door to ring a doorbell that isn't there?
They were both younger males and I remember all of the stupid stuff I did when I was 17ish.
So my question to you is, was it wrong to call the cops on them? Have I become the old guy that yells, "get off my yard", at passing neighborhood kids (I'm only 34)? Or, are you like me and figure that if they were only messing around, they would likely just get a stern talking to. But, if they were breaking into cars and houses, it might save someone's life.
Lastly, I only called the non-emergency dispatch line. Didn't think it warranted a 911 call.
How would you have handled it?
