Dear PoPville – Mystery late-night knocker

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Dear PoPville,

A very odd thing occurred Monday night / early Tuesday morning around 1:30am on the 1300 block of U Street. What sounded like an inebriated slurring woman “Rachel,” climbed the 3-story fire escape to my building, and was knocking on random doors because she just “wanted to ask a question.” In talking through the door, she said that she only lived a few blocks away, was unarmed, and wasn’t violent. In thinking with a security mindset, I was wondering about the potential for a burglar to use a recording to persuade themselves into a place at that hour. I didn’t open the door, but asked that she get home safe and I called 911 to follow-up. I couldn’t get a visual on the person and the police (who responded quickly) weren’t able to find her or anyone else suspicious behind the block.

I just wanted to pass on the info to PoP to see if anyone else either knows a Rachel (to get her help) or has heard of a situation where this was used to break into a place.

Ed. Note: In Feb. 2012 there was a vicious assault in Ledroit Park where: “A female knocked on the victim’s front door and acted as if she was crying. When the victim opened the door 2 male suspects forced their way in to the house.”