Fairfax County woman returns after weeks away, finds strangers in her apartment

Washington Post ^ | December 22, 2018 | Martin Weil

[EdnaMode]

A resident of Fairfax County had been out of the country for weeks, and when she returned home, she had a surprise, according to the county police.

She found two strangers living in her apartment, the police said.

Police said it was about 5:20 p.m. on Thursday when she returned home to the apartment in the 7000 block of Republic Court. The address is in the Hybla Valley area, in the southeastern part of the county, a few hundred yards east of Richmond Highway.

When she found the two men, she called 911, and they fled, police said.

[EdnaMode]

Bet the "open border" crowd would be okay with this, right?

[Rummyfan]

Life imitating art. Reminds me of the Kevin Costner flick where he returns to his Paris apartment after a long absence and finds some African family has moved in. Then the really ironic part - the cops tell him he can't throw them out till springtime. Maybe this is another reason the yellow jackets are protesting.

[AlaskaErik]

Bet the "open border" crowd would be okay with this, right?

As long as it's not their house.

[AlaskaErik]

I have a winter house in Arizona. There are cameras set up everywhere. Any movement or sound is detected and I get a push notification on my iPhone. Also, if the garage door is opened with the opener, I get notified of that. If the garage door is forced open, the garage camera will alert me. You might get in, but I’ll know pretty fast. I also have nosy, in a good way, neighbors. They all have my phone number.

[rockrr]

When my parents retired they sold the family home (they had outgrown it anyway) and bought two mobile homes, one in a local senior park, and one in a senior park in Arizona. They chose parks because they figured they would offer greater visibility.

It mostly worked out - all except for crooked park owners in the local park. I like your idea of the security system but wonder what good it would do me if I have no one near to respond to intrusions?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Extracted version:

https://outline.com/zZYAZ9

[EdnaMode]

Yeah exactly.

[oldasrocks]

I just leave the wife home with her 12 gauge.

[morphing libertarian]

In Cal they would have rights as squatters. You would have to let them live there and give them a 30 days notice to move out. They can take you to court and have an eviction hearing. It’s a wonderful place.

[SamAdams76]

I wrote a draft of a short story along these lines years ago.

The basic plot is that a runaway girl fleeing her broken home occupied an empty home in which the man was away on a long business trip. The man lived alone because his wife had recently died in a car accident. The runaway girl became aware of the situation and cleaned the house from top to bottom (the house was a mess) and got everything in order. When the man finally came home, the girl begged him not to call the police and to let her stay. The man was impressed with all her work and allowed her to stay on as his live-in housekeeper, cooking meals, doing all the housework and sleeping in the second bedroom. Eventually a romance developed and he married her.

I guess it would make a good Hallmark movie if I ever have the inclination to make a screenplay out of it.

[Robert DeLong]

There is always the local police dept. or sheriff’s office to respond.

[sparklite2]

The girl will be played in the movie by Amy Adams.
The guy will be played by Clint Eastwood.
It’s a May-December thing.

[no-s]

Im trying to come up with a good sign for my rural Pima county house. I'm thinking of a sign that says "No Trespassing! Armed Response!" repeat in Spanish and then a graphic of a peering eyeball looking down on a little stick figure of death with crosshairs superimposed. Also some jam-proof internet service so I can view in real time, remotely direct some laser pointers, make amusing sounds, and so on heheh.

Also maybe put one or more of near the expensive stuff so it can pop up and increase intruder pucker factor ...

[DIRTYSECRET]

The Big Island has more than a few of them for sale. Buyers are warned that they may be armed. BTW gun ownership in Hawaii? Think again.

[lowbridge]

Bump

[minnesota_bound]

I put a sign in the window that says:
Warning Security Cameras in Use

I do not have any cameras, just the sign. Put it up when a package for myself and another neighbor was stolen. Amazon takes a photo of the packages at your door when they deliver.

That sign works so well that the apartment owner on an “inspection” bypassed my place. “Inspection” means just snooping. I have 2 locks and they do not have the key to one of them anymore as I did not tell them I replaced the lock. We had past husband/wife ‘managers’ and the husband knew about the several computer motherboard boxes I had in my closet.

The next time I was in my place when he tried to come in. He ran pretty fast down the stairs. His wife came up saying he was looking for a water leak.... I google that and found that was a known excuse by apartment managers. He avoided me afterward while they were living there and if he had to interact he always had a small child with him.

The apartment building next door has fake cameras on the corners of the place. The manager says they have stopped break-ins.

[AFreeBird]

Is that the Johnny Quest spider?

[Blood of Tyrants]

http://outline.com/zZYAZ9
Gets past the paywall.

[msrngtp2002]

Owned rental property in Pennsylvania. Tenant moved out. Some friend of theirs moved in after breaking in. Took me 90 days to get him out - I even had to leave the damned utilities on!

[morphing libertarian]

cal 30 days if they re there less than year, 60 afterwards. Court can do what they want and owners eat crap. Also applies if you rent room to someone.