Just get his tag number and report it to the police so they have a record. Follow up with a call to see if there is any cause to worry. If he is only coming by and checking the dumpster then leaving he is probably a harmless scrap collector making a living. Saying hello to him or just a smile will probably go a long ways towards showing kindness to another human being. If you have some scrap metal etc save it for him and give it to him personally. Or set it beside the dumpster instead of in it.

 

I figure better safe than sorry. Odds say that the guy is probably harmless, but why take the risk?

 

I was thinking exactly what websthes said. The guy comes along, checks the dumpster for 'goodies', then leaves. All of a sudden he is a "burgular", child molester, rapist maybe? how about a suicide bomber or godforbid a TERRORIST!!!!Listen to yourself man! you have every right and very good reason to be concerned about your daughter in the world today but you assume that this guy, who you dont know from a hole in the wall is a threat to you and others! If you are so concerned about it go talk to the dude! chances are he is just checking the dumpster or possibly waiting for someone, have you watched him the entire time every time to see what hes actually up to?

Go find your *****, and if it helps a wrench just in case this "crazy with a knife or a gun" decides to attack you and go BS the guy! THEN if he seems really odd or like he is up to no good call the cops, i'm sure the po-po has bigger fish to fry than a guy collecting soda cans from peoples trash.

This stuff really gets to me I spend quite a few sunny weekends banging on doors looking for that next project car/truck/bike etc thats resting on someones property. A fair ammount of the time its an older person and countless times i've had 70-80 year old ladies slam the door, and tell me to go away or they will call the police when they see a teenage male standing on their steps. Its quite sad really but you have to get over your paranoia and remember not to judge a book by its cover!

Keep us updated whatever you do and if he does end up being an 'undesireable' I promise to eat my post before letting you procede with the tar and feathers

 

Maybe you should ask the parents and grandparents of the girl that was kidnapped and killed down in Florida, she was sleeping in her bed at her house. I don't think that's a playground. Just food for thought.

 

The guy came back today and I called the police once again. They managed to make it while he was still there. After speaking to him, they promptly placed handcuffs on him and took him away. I don't know why yet, but one of the locals is the son of a friend of mine and I will be giving him a call tomorrow to find out what went down.


Gee, I guess he wasn't just a harmless guy after all. I'm glad I didn't take the advice of some people and just mosey up and ask him what he was doing.

 

I am glad they got him.I am glad to see you did the right thing!The police are paid to do the investigating, you or your family could have gotten hurt.Please let us know what you find out.Good Luck!

 

My first thought is ID thief. I once had a guy do that and I suspect him of stealing my garbage which contained an unshredded balance transfer check from a credit card company. Glad to hear they hauled him off.

 

Good to hear, he must have been up to something because they don't haul people off to jail just for dumpster diving.

 

It could have been nothing more than him giving them some "lip" so they hauled him in. You never know.

 

Eric, you re right, I still don't know, but I will be sure an post the reason when I do.

 

Yeah, I'd like to hear about this. Sounds a little extreme to call the cops because you see a guy a couple times a week by a dumpster. But, I live in a small city in Canada, so I have no idea what it's like for you yankees. I can totally see you being concerned for your family, but maybe a little more investigation on your own next time would be best. If I'm wrong and he turned out to be a total crazy or sumthing like that, then I will take back what I said. Good luck with that whole issue.

 

Generally, if you are debating calling the police about something, then you should just call them. Better safe than sorry. My guess is that he had warrants, or he had no license or proof he owned his vehicle, or the police saw drugs or weapons in the vehicle.

 

It was smart to call the cops to investigate.
Still it could have been something as minor as traffic warrants, unpaid tickets ...
Good eye, good call.

 

All I could get was that he had a warrent from Kansas City. My friend didn't know what it was for.

 

call an officer out just to check