Need Thoughts on an Ongoing Situation

[Batteriesnare]

Hey all. I've been in an interesting situation for about the last two weeks, and thought I'd get opinions from you all.

I suppose the story starts Monday the 23rd of last month. I'm not at home, my roommate is, and some sketchy looking guy comes to sell us a subscription to the Denver Post. Now, to the the best of my knowledge, the Denver post doesn't deliver in Greeley(I may be wrong). The guy makes a big deal of us being students, saying they offer a free subscription to current college students (again, never heard of such a thing) especially halfway through the school year. I live in an apartment building close to campus and there are several students in the building, so he claims to have sold several subscriptions. Needless to say this sounds to me like he's scouting to find where students live so he can break in when no one is around on vacation.

He leaves, then the next night my neighbors' apartment (two girls) has an attempted break in. All is quiet after then as most students left for the Thanksgiving holiday, and I take all my valuables with me when I leave. I returned this past weekend, and nothing had happened since I left. This past Sunday night, the guy came back and my neighbor caught him looking into her window around 3am. The cops are called and they start patrolling the area more heavily. Then last night, he comes back twice, cops are called both times, and only goes after apartments that belong to women. Upon giving a description to the police, they identify him as a registered sex offender in our area. He was chased off the second time by the boyfriend of the girl whose apartment he was looking into, and we haven't seen him. I have female neighbors on both sides and I gave them my phone number so they can call me if he shows up again (since I'm seconds away instead of the cops) and I can make my presence known.

So here's where I'd like to hear your opinions. Should he come back, what would be operating procedure? I told my neighbors to call me and the cops so I can diffuse any immediate threat (try to scare him off) and let the cops come and do their thing. I suppose my main concern would be, I don't think it would be legal for me to draw on him to hold him until the cops can arrive, and from his description, he's athletic and could outrun me. I carry a Surefire LED light, so I could blind him and attempt to tackle him and pin him until the cops get here, but that doesn't seem like a very smart idea either, (especially if he's armed.) Help!!

[SA Friday]

Click!

"Hi, I now have your pic standing at the window, and oh by the way, I'm armed. You want to stand there and wait for the cops, or do you want to run and have them pick you up later?"

Call the cops on the way out the door, and maintain cover.

[sniper7]

blade at a 45 and draw down!

are you allowed to have a gun in the place you stay?

If you can assure it is him, hold him at gun point. at this point you know his background as a sex offender, he has made several attempts at trying to break in and possibly harm the girls and even yourself. more than likely this will happen at 3 am so you have plausible cause, he is a known threat, and your word will stand above his at all times because of his background.

besides, if it were me, I would rather get into some trouble holding a guy at gun point then to have known the guy was around, maybe got away from me then all of a sudden I find out later he rapes some girl, maybe your neighbor, or possibly even worse.

[Batteriesnare]

are you allowed to have a gun in the place you stay?

Yes, the on site landlords know I have them and know I carry ect.

[GoldFinger]

Click!

"Hi, I now have your pic standing at the window, and oh by the way, I'm armed. You want to stand there and wait for the cops, or do you want to run and have them pick you up later?"

Call the cops on the way out the door, and maintain cover.

+1 - Keep armed and make a good witness.

[sniper7]

Yes, the on site landlords know I have them and know I carry ect.

then i would hold him at gun point the second you verified it was the same guy. he is making threats to bodily injury as a known sex offender, you have made previous calls to the police that has been documented and now that the guy is back peeking in windows you have more than probable cause.
I am curious to see what Jim says on this one myself.

[bczandm]

My general impression is that most agencies would prefer you stay out of it and let them handle it. I'd give the non-emergency number at your local police agency a call and ask what they suggest you do. keep in mind that regardless of what you do, if you do take action, it's possible for the bad guy to give you quite a bit of grief.

Keep in mind that online renters insurance is available at very low cost. While you are currently risking potential theft issues, longterm there are other potential problems, such as a fire. All of these losses can and should be covered.

Nothing is worth risking your life or a neighbors life for, and I think you are primarily worred about theft. Of course if you are worried about the female neighbors, I'd again defer to the local police agencies to see what they suggest. KEEP IN MIND MANY SEX OFFENDERS COMMITTED LESS SERIOUS CRIMES THAN YOU MIGHT EXPECT. Rapists and child molestors are a very small percentage of sex offenders and my experience is that they usually end up in jail.

For me, most "things" can be replaced. Let the insurance kick in. Potential threats to family and friends might be handled different.

[Batteriesnare]

I already have insurance, I'm not concerned about losing anything (and all my weapons are locked up unless I'm carrying them), I would feel horrible if he did go after anyone though.

[Elhuero]

lots of good advice here, probably best to follow it rather than any ideas I might have.

(I'd get a paintball gun and turn him orange, black and blue)

[Dr_Fwd]

tag.