# Very scary,yet very true story



## Anonymous (May 21, 2011)

THis happened to us last night around 10:30PM
I was doing a concert last night,and had the whole family there.During a break I got a call and noticed it was my neighbor across the street.When I answered he proceeded to tell me something that scared the hell out of me.
The sherriffs department had sent several deputies to my home,because apparently someone called 911 from inside my home and left the phone off of the hook.Now.....those of you that know me,know my dogs,and the material I own.For the rest of you,I have probably over 1000 lbs of military and telecommunication escrap just inside my home.That does not include what is out back,or in my shop,or in my storage unit.I also have 3 very large dogs,my puppy(chase) is a lab/mastiff mix that can stand on his hind legs and put his front paws on my shoulders(I am 6' tall).
My neighboor handed the phone to one of the deputies that proceeded to tell me that they had to "secure" the home,and they could not because of chase not letting anyone in the house(GOOD BOY CHASE!).However he said they were going to have to call animal control to take the dogs while they went in and checked out my property.Of course I blew a gasket! I told them I was on my way and said to not touch my dogs,which he agreed.So we left the concert,loaded up everyone in our suburban and set a land speed record home.When we got there our road had many sherriffs cars down it,and even more deputies in my front yard,along with several neighboors.The officers advised us again of the situation,then I took chase and the other 2 around back and put them in our fence.The officers DREW THEIR GUNS, and started shouting in the front door "sherriffs departmentcome out with your hands up!" Of course my family and I knew had there been anyone in the home they were most likely unconscious,or unable to walk,so we sat quietly in the yard with everyone else.The deputies swarmed in the house and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity,but finally came out.
They told us they didn't find anyone,but they wanted us to look to see if anything was missing......ROFL.Like anyone that came in our house would have had time to take anything.So we all proceeded inside the house,and the first thing I started looking for was blood.Thankfully I did not see any,and thanked my dogs dearly for protecting their castle.
Then I walked to our home phone and noticed the reciever was hung up......not left off.Then I pressed redial,and saw that the last number dialed.........was to our own cell phone from about 4 hours prior to this situation.So I asked the officers why they thought the call originated from our home,and they told us that the call had been "triangulated" from towers.Of course the officers apologized countless times for tearing us away from what we were doing and thanked us for our patience.But just think of what the potential outcome could have been....?
P.S. We did make it back to the concert...woohoo!!


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## Claudie (May 21, 2011)

Hmm, could it have just been an excuse to see the inside of your home? I don't understand the triangle comment as a land line phone doesn't use towers. If you call 911 from a land line telephone, the exact address comes up. :|


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## Crosswire3 (May 21, 2011)

That sounds VERY fishy to me...definitely start asking some questions.


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## rusty (May 21, 2011)

Claudie said:


> Hmm, could it have just been an excuse to see the inside of your home? I don't understand the triangle comment as a land line phone doesn't use towers. If you call 911 from a land line telephone, the exact address comes up. :|



I'm inclined to agree they wanted inside the premises and had no excuse to obtain a warrant.

To locate a cell by means of triangulation the cellular phone has to be connected on a call. Plus it's not that easy, they need to know the number of the cell to be able to track it by triangulation, maybe even need a warrant to carry out this invasion of your privacy out.

Regards
Rusty


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## Claudie (May 21, 2011)

rusty said:


> Claudie said:
> 
> 
> > Hmm, could it have just been an excuse to see the inside of your home? I don't understand the triangle comment as a land line phone doesn't use towers. If you call 911 from a land line telephone, the exact address comes up. :|
> ...




It wasn't a cellular telephone that placed the call. He stated that the phone was left off the hook but when he found it, it was hung up.


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## Anonymous (May 21, 2011)

Claudie said:


> It wasn't a cellular telephone that placed the call. He stated that the phone was left off the hook but when he found it, it was hung up.


Correct,however our landline is a DSL line.Maybe that had something to do with it.I am not concerned about them seeing in the house,because I used to hunt with 2 of the deputies,and another one is our customer.Had they wanted to see in the house all they had to do was stop by when they were off duty.Plus the officers woke up several of my neighbors to help with the dogs,and then allowed me to drive home to secure them.I don't think they would have gone through all of that if they had dishonest,or questionable motives.
You guys should see chase,he is getting the royal treatment today!I have to do another concert tonight but I think we are taking them out to the woods tomorrow and let them run and have some fun.I am so proud :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


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## Claudie (May 21, 2011)

May I ask what the 911 call was about? Was it someone seeking help, what did they say? I'm not sure I understand the guns drawn if it was a help call. Either way, that is an odd situation, would freak me out a bit I would imagine. :shock:


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## Anonymous (May 21, 2011)

They said it was just a call with no response,but the phone was not hung up.
What I don't understand is....if the phone was not hung up why didn't they search the surrounding houses looking for open lines? If the line was closed after they knocked on a certain door,then they whould know they were at the right place.


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## glondor (May 21, 2011)

Very strange. Did they go looking for the real 911 call after?


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## Oz (May 21, 2011)

Mic,

I think there may be some confusion over what phone made this call. You checked the last number dialed on your land line and it was not the phone used. So if a call to 911 did come from in your home, and they did indeed use triangulation in order to find the phone, the 911 call was placed from a cell phone that they were looking for, not your land line. Possibly someone did get in your house only to find themselves cornered by your dog/dogs. Being cornered by aggressive dogs might be sufficient reason for a thief to wish to call 911 for help. Find out the number that was used to call 911, and then find the owner of that phone.


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## Anonymous (May 22, 2011)

That sounds like a more logical answer than what we were thinking.BTW oz,sorry about earlier,but I was at the concert.
Yeh that idea makes perfect sense,obviously it wasn't our phone,and I told you the dogs had gone ballistic,so yeh that makes perfect sense.Well either way,mary said we are buying new locks tomorrow,so we should never have to worry about this again.


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## eeTHr (May 22, 2011)

mic---

Since the police "had to triangulate," then they knew it was a cell phone. They had the caller ID number at the 911 office. So, weren't they the least bit interested in finding the cell phone in the house? And didn't they want to know who owned that number?

If the cell phone was left with the call to 911 still connected, when did it disconnect---before or after the cops arrived?

If the person was _inside_ your house, wouldn't there be some sign of a break-in? And if he broke in, got cornered by the dogs, dialed 911 and just didn't talk, and left the phone that way, then how and when did he become "un-cornered" enough to flee? After the dogs were removed? ...Is there an attic? With access somewhere where he could go in and close the door, then crawl up in the attic to phone 911, and hide while the police searched? If so, and he finally hung up the phone, they could try calling it to listen for it to ring, unless he was smart enough to turn it off (probably would be, if he knew it would be triangulated).

On the other hand, if he was never inside the house, but outside and just near it, it would make a good diversion to get some cops off the street for awhile. As long as it wasn't his phone.

...Just thinking about it. Very strange event, altogether.

:?:


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## jimdoc (May 22, 2011)

Do you have scrap cell phones with batteries in the house that the dogs may have stepped on? I think if you just push 9 on most phones it dials 911.

Jim


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## joem (May 22, 2011)

Maybe the phone was dropped in your house and was still on. Have you looked for the phone? Ask a friend on the force for to call the number it might ring.


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## darshevo (May 22, 2011)

jimdoc said:


> Do you have scrap cell phones with batteries in the house that the dogs may have stepped on? I think if you just push 9 on most phones it dials 911.
> 
> Jim



I am a Sprint customer and I was informed when I got my service that should I not pay my bill and have my phone service disconnected I could still use the phone for a 911 call. Also, at one point with my first Sprint phone I was hearing voices and realized it was coming from my pocket. I had apparently brushed up against something and got just the right combination of buttons to unlock my phone and had managed to dial 911 with it. 

Would also explain why the police had a triangulated cell phone location (with it being on and not moving) but no number to go with it


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## dtectr (May 22, 2011)

Cell phones are really just modified FM radios. However, to backtrace a call, they would to know the number they were tracing. ALL new digital networks use a system that dissects bits of the transmission & plug them into any available spots on the bandwidth, then are reassembled at the tower, which then connects the complete call to landline. 

The extra bandwidth that digital provided increased the number of calls per (still finite) but greatly reduced the range of each tower. Each phone that accesses any tower must register itself & be recognized by the network before being allowed to utilize it. Each cell company owns their own towers, so it would be the site unique to the carrier of the call.

Anyway, there is a record of the phone number somewhere, at the tower, at the cell provider or in the incoming call log at the police station. If you have a lawyer friend ask for sure, but since this "incident" involved you & ocurred at your residence, you should have access to that info, I think.


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## colibri (May 22, 2011)

On a similar note I got called to one of our un manned sites after reports of repeat calls to the European emergency services number. I thought this strange as there is a phone line but no phone at this site. Arrived there to find the phone master socket full of water and listening to the line it was very noisy and I can only assume the shorting out was picking up the line and making the exchange think its an emergancy call. Dried out the box and no more problems?

Any similarities?


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## Anonymous (May 22, 2011)

jimdoc said:


> Do you have scrap cell phones with batteries in the house that the dogs may have stepped on? I think if you just push 9 on most phones it dials 911.


Ironically my wife had that idea also(guess great minds think alike huh jim?).We did check and did not see anything that stood out.I am supposed to go to my friends house tuesday,and he works on monday so I will have him retrieve the number from the dispatch call center,then I can find out what is going on.


joem said:


> Maybe the phone was dropped in your house and was still on. Have you looked for the phone?


Hi Joe.Yes we did look (briefly) around the house and didn't find anything.But we are off all day today,so I will start looking now.
Talk to you guys later.


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## dtectr (May 22, 2011)

The response here is impressive - the sense of community really speaks out.

Also, it could be OUR house next time, so thanks mic & all for the input here Some of my neighbors are, well, morons - who knows what they blab about when they've had a few to drink?


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## firewalker (May 26, 2011)

Dogs and a loaded AK keeps bad guys away from my house. LOL


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## Anonymous (May 26, 2011)

JACK!!!!!!!!! Hey bobo.
Sorry I missed your call last night.I'll explain in the morning.
I forgot to tell you guys that the officer initially told me that he merely knocked on the door and it swung open.....however one of my neighbors said that he watched the officer "open" the door.That frusterated me.
Anyways back to the problem,we looked all over the house and the yard and did not find a phone.It would be impossible for my friend to get the number that the call came from,however he could get the "frequency signal?"


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## eeTHr (May 27, 2011)

Before caller ID was available to the public, the 911 offices had already had it for a long time.

Now, every cell phone stores the caller's number, whether it's a land line or cell.

How can the 911 office not have it? It should be on the police report, shouldn't it? The break-in should have an investigation file, and the calling number should be in there. Unless they just didn't investigate it---but why wouldn't they if it would be so easy to just find the owner of the number, even if wasn't the burgler, they would have to investigate that to find out if it was or not. I mean, they wouldn't know without checking it out.

The police's story is sounding fishier and fishier. Sorry, but if it does, it does.

:?:


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## Anonymous (May 27, 2011)

eeTHr said:


> The police's story is sounding fishier and fishier. Sorry, but if it does, it does.


Oh ABSOLUTELY it does! Even my neighbors said there is something messed up about this.


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## Harold_V (May 27, 2011)

My money says they were looking for a meth lab and thought they had their bases covered. 

In spite of your claim that they are friends, I expect you're not going to get the least amount of cooperation from the cops. To do so is to admit to having violated your rights against illegal search. 

Doesn't surprise me in the least. All it takes is one overly ambitious person in law enforcement to violate the rights of others, under the guise of doing something noble. 

Harold


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## nickvc (May 27, 2011)

Harold_V said:


> My money says they were looking for a meth lab and thought they had their bases covered.
> 
> In spite of your claim that they are friends, I expect you're not going to get the least amount of cooperation from the cops. To do so is to admit to having violated your rights against illegal search.
> 
> ...



Now that rings true. I had a friend under surveillance by the police many years ago as some of the chemicals we use have other uses in the drug world, and one nutcase,we nicknamed Daft Harry, who crossed over into it, he did about 8 years if I remember correctly.


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## Acid_Bath76 (May 27, 2011)

Mic, 

I live across from a police detective in a quiet residential area. It seems he has become more aware of my hobby, even though I keep it very private. I get a lot of packages, and I'm sure my name has popped up on more than one watch list as a result of the chemicals I've purchased online. I have nothing to hide though. If you're flushing anything down your drain, I've heard that they can determine roughly where it's coming from. If you combine that with some of the other factors like purchase history, it's easy to see how they might think something really strange is going on. Regardless, this doesn't give the jackboot thugs a reason to storm your castle for a bogus 911 call. I hope you pressed the issue and found out what really caused the sheriffs department to arrive on your doorstep. I know you said that the phone was supposed to be off the hook, but is it possible one of the deputies put it back on the receiver after they finished clearing the house? At the very least, they should be able to provide you with a copy of the audio. My other question would be why the Sheriffs department arrived without a paramedic or any other support. If in fact this was a home invasion with possible casualties, you would have more than just four or five deputies picking their nose, waiting for you to get home from the concert. A phone being off the hook supports the theory that there is in fact an unresponsive casualty/invader. Then again, a thief breaking into my home is not a casualty. He's either dog food for a 165lb mastiff or target practice for bird season. I hope you post your eventual findings on this. You'll probably run into smokescreens and hurdles trying to get to the truth, but this is exactly the kind of crap that we as citizens need to stand up to. There's a right and wrong way for law enforcement to look into something. I realize the world we live in isn't much like what our grandparent had, but a cop/sheriff should be able to put everything into context. Now, if you have six prior felonies, and a laundry list of other infractions.... well... what can I say? Move into the country It gets my bold boiling thinking about this. Most of us, I like to think, are good citizens. CITIZENS!!! We have rights under the LAW! Too many people just stand idle while their rights are trampled on for one reason or another. All justified for one excuse or another. You've probably gathered where I stand on this issue, but I hope you really put the screws to these thugs. 
All that aside, I'm glad everyone was okay. Your dogs sound like a worthy troop. They each deserve a bone, and a good pat on the head. Had it not been for them, the deputies might have been waiting for you drinking YOUR coffee on your couch. Of course, they wouldn't have looked through anything.... you need a search warrant for that. Thanks for posting this! I imagine if you start doing this hobby on a larger scale, people are going to notice something. This really could happen to anyone on here. Again though, glad everyone is okay. Have a good one! 

--AB76

"No government ought to exist for the purpose of checking the prosperity of its people or to allow such a principle in its policy."
-Edmund Burke


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## Anonymous (May 27, 2011)

Harold_V said:


> My money says they were looking for a meth lab and thought they had their bases covered.


That was the first thing mary and I thought of harold....but they never went in my shop,or even asked to.


Harold_V said:


> All it takes is one overly ambitious person in law enforcement to violate the rights of others, under the guise of doing something noble.


HA....if you guys only knew the stories I know.It is kind of frusterating,however it has gotten me out of a couple of tickets before.


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## qst42know (May 27, 2011)

I suspect all cell phones are "triangulated" at all times. 

Multiple towers at any time.

Ever watch the signal bar update itself while you are on the move? 

When on they are always working. And may be working on or off any time the battery is installed.

Has the current time on your cell ever been off even a little?

No clock keeps time like that.

Does anyone really believe a 911 callers number can be unlisted or blocked?

Nonsense.

From memory, I had read something a while back that indicated radio signals (this may include DSL signals) of any kind can be listened to without the same privacy safe guards as a land line.

I do believe your pals were checking you out.

Yeah your story is scary, very scary.


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## rusty (May 28, 2011)

qst42know said:


> From memory, I had read something a while back that indicated radio signals (this may include DSL signals) of any kind can be listened to without the same privacy safe guards as a land line.
> 
> I do believe your pals were checking you out.
> 
> Yeah your story is scary, very scary.



How they can monitor the keystrokes from your computer, now this is scary.

The Power-line method: The seconds method that was demonstrated by researchers showed how keystrokes from a desktop computer, with a PS/2 keyboard, can be analyzed through a ground line from a power plug in an outlet 50 feet away. In this method, as Barisani said, an information leakage is created in the electric grid. In order to detect this, a power plug, including nearby ones sharing the same electric line as the victim’s computer can be used. The victim’s keystroke pulses can be isolated from other noise on the power line by using a digital oscilloscope and analog-digital converter, as well as filtering technology.

This technology is still at its infancy stage since the researchers, after preparing for five days,Ã‚ performed an initial test in which they recorded individual keystrokes but were unable to record a continuous flow of data. However, Barisani expects the latter to be possible shortly.

Where can it be used: The power-line method can be used to sniff data from the computers of any nearby user, as well as any ATM machine that uses PS/2 or similar keypads. This method does not work against laptops or USB keyboards.

Other methods:

These techniques are similar to other Ã‚ research that involves sniffing keystrokes through a wireless antenna. So far though, TEMPEST remains the most effective one. That method involves lots of expensive equipment and works by sniffing the electromagnetic radiation emanating from a video display.

More on Tempest sniffing, http://www.tomsguide.com/us/NSA-Tempest,news-1207.html


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## Drewbie (May 28, 2011)

eeTHr said:


> Before caller ID was available to the public, the 911 offices had already had it for a long time.
> 
> Now, every cell phone stores the caller's number, whether it's a land line or cell.
> 
> How can the 911 office not have it? It should be on the police report, shouldn't it?



As mentioned earlier, inactive cellphones (not assigned a number) can still be used for emergency calls (same with satellite phones). If it was such a phone accidentally calling 911, I'm guessing no phone number would come up on the emergency centre's screen, BUT the cellphone network that handled the call would have recorded the cellphone's serial number.


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## rusty (May 28, 2011)

Drewbie said:


> eeTHr said:
> 
> 
> > Before caller ID was available to the public, the 911 offices had already had it for a long time.
> ...



Your absolutely right Drewbi an out of service cell or satellite phone all have a unique MAC address an electronic fingerprint making it possible to track the device without having an assigned number from a service provider.

Any good civil rights lawyer worth his salt would tear them Sheriffs a new orifice. Mic could make a formal application under the Privacy of Information Act to obtain a copy of that 911 report.

Edit: I have noted that you folks south of the 49th call this the Freedom of Information Act

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/freedom_of_information.aspx

Regards
Rusty


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## Anonymous (May 28, 2011)

Rusty,
You have known me for years on here.In fact I would not own the monster ball mill I do today,if it were not for you.However you also know how I feel about my anonymity,and privacy.While I *always* appreciate your help and concern for me,this is a situation that I do not want to dig deeper into.
As far as my family and I are concerned,the worse thing that actually happened was,they wanted to see if I was doing anything illegal,they were able to search our home,of course they found nothing,so they left.
There is one other possible cause for this,but it has been discussed privately with one of the mods,and we will keep it that way.Bringing it on the forum would only start drama,and I will not stand for that,whether it is at someone else's hand,or my own.
On that note,I appreciate you guys so very much.All of you are a very large,and important part of my life.Most of you are not only people I have helped(or helped me)....but my friends.Thank you for being,and staying,here.
EDITTED FOR CLARIFICATION
The "other possible cause" for this that I spoke of earlier,has nothing to do with a member on the forum that I was very dear friends with.Those of you that know who this is,know that he would never do that,and I would never do that to him either.This has also been discussed with a mod,about a month ago,and I told him the same thing.
However,this may potentially have to do with an individual I met about a year ago,that I refused to teach how to process,because of the location that he planned on processing.It was directly next door to one of the largest metal buildings in our county,and only a couple of miles from where I live.I refuse to teach anyone how to process if it means more competition at local auctions or sales.Not to mention being right next door to this massive metal building......it would only be a matter of time before someone picked up on it.


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## rasanders22 (Jun 15, 2011)

I thought I would give my .02 dollars on this subject. I am an active shooter/gun collector and belong to the biggest gun forum on the internet. The site also happens to have a lot of law enforcment that are members. This subject has come up before. It seems 911 calls can be made by a glitch in the system. Have you ever had your cell phone just call someone without you touching it? I have. Do a google search for "erroneous 911 calls" and read some of the stories. 

If the police that you had a meth lab, they probably would have shown up with a SWAT team. This would also explain why you could not find a phone off the hook. I hope, for your sake, this is what happened and a) someone didnt break into your house or b)the cops violated your rights.


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## Anonymous (Jun 15, 2011)

I agree with this.I spoke with the wife of one of my friends,she works for the call center,and she said it is common for them to not accurately trace a location,or for there to be no call at all.
I can only rest in thinking that this was just a simple mistake.


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## floppy (Jun 16, 2011)

Sometimes if your phone line has lots of static it can dial 911, the noise static makes mimics dmtf (dual multitone frequency) and will make calls with no phone off the hook. DTMF is how your phone makes calls.


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