SCPD - Be Cautious If A Stranger Rings Your Door Bell

By Erica Jackson

Fourth precinct police are asking Smithtown residents to be cautious when answering their front doors to strangers.  The reason, says Detective Sergeant Frank Catalino, is that a group of people have been “casing” Smithtown homes to burglarize by impersonating service workers.

“They knock on the door to see if anyone is home, if not they will go around the back of the house and break in a window or force in a door,” said Catalino.  If someone is at home the would-be burglars tell the homeowners that they are cleaning ladies, who are lost and looking for directions, said Catalino.

“If it’s a stranger, be leery,” said Catalino, “people don’t usually ring door bells to ask for directions.”

There is also a no solicitation law in Smithtown.  According to the town code, no one should be peddling without having first obtained a valid license through the town. Charitable organizations are exempt; however, they must register with the town.

Catalino said he doesn’t want to create a fear among homeowners so as not to open their doors to Girl Scouts selling cookies, but he said homeowners should be cautious of strangers knocking on their doors. He recommends that if you don’t know the person at the door, speak through it and if something seems suspicious, call the police.

Recently, a resident of Knob Hill in Smithtown reported that a man in a uniform rang her doorbell nearly 25 times before going around to the back of the house in an attempt to break in.  She called 911 and while on the phone, the man seemed to have given up.

“The police were great, but what can they really do?,” she wrote on SmithtownMomsTown.com.  “They (police) had a dog in the backyard for a while and they are doing fingerprints because the back door is bent in spots.”

Other neighbors have reported similar incidents and on September 10 at around 11:30 a.m. a home on Oakside Drive was burglarized.  No one was home at the time, however, residents reported that two black females were ringing doorbells asking for directions while a man went around back of the home to break-in.  

 

According to one local mom, Jeannie Weller,  a similar things happened on Pasture, Wildflower and Rumford Roads. “They were “carrying clipboards and looked somewhat official.”

Weller told fellow homeowners to “be vigilant.”  She said, “If you see something that doesn’t look right, call 911 and let the cops figure it out.”

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