no good dead

[firesprite1974]

Jurisdiction

Washington

Was helping out a friend by letting him stay occasionally at our home. He began to steal things and when he was told to not come back to our residence he broke into our home, stole things including a key. The police found him and said none of our property was on him but he had 3 dv warrants and had drugs on him. He told them he had a right to push our air conditioner out of the window and crawl in because he lived there and had a key and mail delivered there. First off we did not ever give him a key and definitely did not tell him it was ok for the mail(which we haven't seen). He is currently in jail but we fear for when he gets out. We changed the locks but could not obtain the anti harassment order the police told us to get, we were told by the court one burglary doesn't count as harassment. He no longer has any property in the home and has been told via text and in person not to come to the home, is there anything else we need to do. There is no paperwork(lease or otherwise)saying he lives here, we were just trying to help out someone in need. I don't want him to have any right to be in my home again. Thank you

 

[adjusterjack]

Are you looking for some magic words that will prevent him from coming back and messing with your home. Sorry, there aren't any. Loonies and druggies do whatever they wan't. All you can do is prepare yourself for what might happen and just hope it doesn't.

You can install a burglar alarm that makes a very loud continuous noise when tripped and have it monitored if you like.

You can purchase and own a firearm for protection as well.

When seconds count, police are minutes away.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Sometimes good deeds don't help people clean up their own lives. At this point there are no legal measures you can take and, even if there are (like restraining orders) it would be completely useless as they will be reactive. If he wanders onto your property he can be arrested for trespassing. I doubt anyone would believe the story of a wandering recidivist who claims he lives at your home without any solid proof of residence. The best you can do is take precautions against someone who knows the inside of your home. This means change locks, install a good security system (perhaps a monitor such as a surveillance system) and the other measures @adjusterjack recommends. Good luck.