almost shot the maintenance man this morning

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I wonder if the assistants actions are condoned by the rent contract. One of the apartment complexes I lived in, had a do not enter clause. If you didnt sign it, authorized personnel could enter for valid reasons....such as repairs and yearly inspections of sprinkler systems and smoke detectors.
 
i think he acted correctly, right up to the point he stepped out into the public domain with gun in hand to confront the maint. man. and i know a little sumpin bout okla. law too saddlebum
 
I think Krinkov was right.

Hello everybody.â„¢

Whatever happened to the traditional THR civility?

Come on folks. Picture yourself in his situation. You just woke up, and you hear a knocking on the door. Then you can hear him fiddling with the door lock. (Better rack the 12 ga!!)

What would you have done?

I would have grabbed the 12ga or whatever was on hand.

I think Krinkov was right. Except two things: Change the locks! and don't chase after him yelling (if you did or not). Just let them go and call the cops, your lawyer. Then the manager will get a visit and sort things out.

Why everybody is downcasting him is a very negative thing to do to newcomers. BTW, Welcome to the High Road, Krinkov! :)
 
I'm gonna go with saddlebum. If I was sitting on the couch and someone tried to open the door I'm not saying a word. They will be met with a black bore and have about a second to decide what they want to do.

The real question is did he run in the hall or just crack the door and stick his head out.

In the hall is probably a big no-no. Sticking your head out the door is a little less clear cut.
 
I've been there. Only replace the maintenence man with a Accessor. My last land lord was in the process of selling his house (out from under us, but thats another story.) He had told me that an Assessor was going to come out. The assessor did come out with the landlord. I was there to greet them...Al ist gut.

Anyway I guess the Assessor hadn't seen a repair done to the stairs, So he decided to come back. Evedently he had knocked the door,(I sleep day's ya'll so I was pretty much out for this) and failing that tryed the door to basement.(One of those cellar type doors-metal, noisy) after realizing the door was locked he apparently in a fit of frustration tried to force it open. This caused a heck of a noise, which woke me up, he must've banged and tugged and faught with this door for nearly 5 minutes. :eek: Enough time for me to get half clothed and well (enough) armed.

I proceeded up the stairs so that I could cover(if need be the door) and looked out. I saw the assessor and (some little guy in bussiness casual) and tucked the G-21 into the back of my pants, with an undershirt over. And walked out to see WTFunyuns was the matter. He yelled at me about someone was supposed to be there I apologized and told him Ron(the landlord) hadn't told us he was coming over. :rolleyes: I turned and let him check out what ever it was he was so intent on seeing. I think he may have noticed the print though because he stopped being hostile after I turned to open the door.

Some people are clueless. :rolleyes: He'll never know...or maybe he does.
I talked to the landlord and he said that he didn't know the guy was coming over either. I guess he just figured he'd stop by. :barf:
 
Whatever happened to the traditional THR civility?...

Why everybody is downcasting him is a very negative thing to do to newcomers...
Click to expand...


I don't find this thread particularly uncivil.

Krinkov posted what appears to be meant as more of a rant than a post asking for advice, and seemed to not like the responses given.

I note that the first post that could be considered uncivil (vs. reasoned disagreement) is from Krinkov himself.

Just because someone doesn't laud his choices (and dares to criticize some of them) doesn't mean that they are personally attacking him.

Not everybody feels that his apparent pride in his actions is warranted, and many have expressed that they think he went beyond what was needed in the circumstances.

There is no flame war going on here- at most there's a post or two of non-sugarcoated disagreement.

If you don't want to expose yourself to possible dissent, don't post in a public forum. And if you do choose to post, don't cop attitude and become defensive when some folks don't automatically fall in line behind you.

They're not trying to drive you away, they're trying to get you to maybe take a second look at your actions in a new light.
 
Herein lies the difference:


AF_INT1N0-
I proceeded up the stairs so that I could cover(if need be the door) and looked out. I saw the assessor and (some little guy in bussiness casual) and tucked the G-21 into the back of my pants, with an undershirt over. And walked out to see WTFunyuns was the matter.
Click to expand...
 
Sorry Bro', I think you jumped the gun. If I was home and someone jiggled the knob, I'd have asked "who is it" . Cripes, it could have been a little kid or Alzheimer patient or maybe your girfriend. I don't want to bust your chops, but you have the right to defend yourself, but with that right comes the responsibility to only defend yourself against a genuine threat. You probably don't care what I think, and I, frankly,don't care what you think. But, your the one that started the thread. If you can't stand the heat..........you know the rest.
 
Curious about renters laws in other states. In most I am aware of, the property owner retains access to the unit for maintainance and other issues either directly or through their representative. You cannot change the locks without providing the owner a copy of the new key.

You state that this was a known maintainance issue so it's perfectly reasonable for the property owner to send over the plumber to fix the problem. After knocking and not receiving a reply, it is reasonable for said plumber to enter the unit under the assumption it was unoccupied and perform the job he was hired to do.

While the plumber could have and probably should have made a better effort to announce himself, I think you'll have a hard time proving him in the wrong.

As for your actions, I agree that opening the door and exiting the unit into a common area was a big error tactically and legally.

But hey, this is just a forum and that's just an opinion.
 
I live in an apartment and I have been home when someone was messing with the knob. I thought I heard something but dismissed it...then my wife heard the knob and the deadbolt being messed with so she runs and gets me.

I grab my Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt (hey run what you brung and that is what I keep loaded...) and go over to the door.

Our apartment door is actually pretty secure. It is at the end of a hallway so you can't get any sort of prybar in there. It is a metal door with a solid wood core. I have replaced all of the screws (hinges and deadbolt) with 3" number 12 wood screws. I wasn't too worried that someone would breach the door in the couple of seconds it would take for me to check through the peephole.

Lo and behold in the peephole I see my upstairs neighbor trying to get his key to work. He looks a wee bit tipsy. So I ask him in a very loud and clear voice through the door, "Can I help you?" I think he almost needed a change of pants because his head snapped up from the lock like it was electrocuted. He appologized and walked upstairs to his apartment.

I never opened the door.

If (and I mean if because I recognize quite a few people in my apartment complex) it had been someone I really didn't recognize I would NOT have opened the door. I would have had my wife go to the bedroom and call the police. I am undecided if I would have announced myself or just waited to see if they were going to try and breach the door and gone from there...on one hand you want to see an attempted B&E caught and on the other hand you just want the scum bag away from your dwelling. I would probably have shouted to "BEAT IT" and gave the cops a nice description from the peep hole...
 
ok folks...you guys are reading into this.

I never ran out into a hallway (there is no hallway as I live on the top flor of a terrace.

secondly what I wrote is this:

"I immediately opened the door and looked out ands it was the assistant maintenance guy who is pretty much half-retarded. He then turned back and was coming back to me. When he saw the pistol in my hand he froze. I yelled at him and told him he almost got shot."

Note the first sentence: "I immediately opened the door and looked out..."

I did not leave my apartment. As I already stated I was in my boxers. Also my pistol was in my hand to my side next to my leg, much like I might have had it during a vehicle stop when I was in law enforcement. He saw the pistol because I guess he has good vision or maybe the sunlight glinted off of it..who knows?

As for his mental condition, I retract my statement that he is "half-retarded" and just say that he is border-line stupid. Does that make a difference? I was intending to paint him as the dolt he is for the actions he took not as an indication that he was born a down syndrome baby (lol).

First I get blasted as someone who menaces and brandishes a firearm at a mentally retarded guy, then I get labeled a troll (I'm still trying to figure that one out) and then some of you guys go off and read into this episode by inserting ASSUMPTIONS like me running out into the hall.

This whole thing has taken Monday morning quarter-backing to new levels.

I regret even mentioning it. I think I'll just stay out of your little tactical discussion retreat here and stick with the technical forums.

P.S. Unlike some of you I have actually worked in law enforcement, understand the housing laws (ex-housing authority) and have not only drawn down on many suspects in the field bu thave faced armed suspects. For you to paint me as a "disgrace" to gun owners is a slap in the face against someone you don't even know and passing judgement on an incident that you weren't there to witness.
 
You didn't ask, but I don't think you have the temperament to be in law enforcement, based on your actions in that one instance. LEO's should be able to remain cool and have the control to de-escalate a situation wherever possible. You not only lost your cool, but called the manager and yelled at him, too. All this after realizing that there was no threat.
 
You could just not say anything and leave the chain off next time. End of problem. ;) <- That winkie means I am just kidding for those of you in California. :rolleyes:

I too would recommend hiding a gun from the sight of visitors but that's no law, it's just tactile ettiquite. Nobody was threatened here. The sight of the gun probably did scare him more than words alone but there is no doubt that his single digit IQ got the message and I'd say that's a real good thing.

I rented several places over the years and never had a landlord attempt to invade my living space without an invitation. They were all considerate enough of my privacy and property to avoid that much excitement. :D
 
Krinkov
Try this. Same exact situation happens next week and like other posted it is drunk/impared/injured person. Thing is you don't know the person and they advance on you so you shoot them. Police take report and Maint tells of you "Waveing gun in HIS face a week ago" (If you have done anthing NEAR LEO work you are familiar with how stories CHANGE in blink of eye) Then consider the likely Jury pool. Most couldn't hold down a minimum wage job and think Oprah and Dr. Phil are gods. ALL their info is from TV and papers (those who can read above 5th grade level) Do you Really want to be in that situation?
I always changed the locks when I was forced to rent apts.
I.E. "It broke at 2am so I went to Wally World and forgot to mention it... BTW *** were you doing trying to go into MY apt"
IMO you made some mistakes..... Minor but for level of situation (excepting you were just woke up) I give you a 8.5 :)
My plan is for person to NEVER know I had a gun UNLESS they force me to use it.
 
Just my $.02

First:

If you kill the maintenance man, you've got some fast talkin' to do, and you'd better have a good lawyer do it for you.

My guess is you haven't looked at your lease carefully. I'll bet there's at least one clause in it that allows maintenance to enter under certain circumstances without your permission.

Second:

Once you've established that a person isn't a threat, there's no need to take out your adrenalin dump on them by trying to scare them as bad as they scared you. A nice rational response would have been: "Hi, sorry I didn't answer the door when you knocked--do you need to look at the bathroom again?" BTW, it wouldn't involve letting him see your firearm.
 
I could care less about your opinion.
Click to expand...

I wonder why one would bother starting a thread on an internet forum if this was their feeling? I mean really why did you make a post if you didnt want feedback?

That the very definition of trolling i might add.
 
Krinkov, first off I think I should apologize. Your post caught me at the wrong time. I was 100% behind you until you opened the door and talked to the guy. The way I read it is that your apartment opened into a common hallway and that is where you had your discussion about with the maintence guy. Which leads to another problem of any type of a situation that is written up (either in a report or online) you cannot visualize the area. Even with your second explanation I cannot get a grasp for what the area looked like. Still in my own mind I am not 100% sure you were right, but you were there and I wasn't, you know the lay of the land and I don't.

Now with all of that said once again I am sorry if it seemed like I was jumping on you but just giving my opinion.
 
Just out of curiosity Krinkov, when you were an LEO, how would you have handled it if you got a call from a maintanence guy about a tenant who yelled at him while waving his gun? The caller isn't the brightest bulb, but he seems to really be scared of the tenant.

I'm not trying to trap you with this question, I just wonder how you would view it from the other side.
 
As already stated the employees at the Authority had to announce themselves (loudly).

Had the maintenance man done the same thing this guy did to me by not saying a word and just opening the door then he deserved to get yelled out.

...and for the last time I was not waving the gun about.
 
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