Beware Always!

From an email sent through the Highland Park Community email list.

Just want to give everyone a heads up about an incident that occurred at my house in Morningside – which is only 6 houses in from the border with Highland Park, about a 3 block walk from the Union Project. Ultimately, nothing criminal occurred – but it was very suspicious.

Between 9:30 and 10:00 pm on Easter Sunday (3/23/08), I heard a loud knock at my front door. The man at the door introduced himself as “Oliver” and described himself as a neighbor whose car had broken down and he just needed some help – just $3 would do it. As if to prove his case, he pressed a drivers license up against the window of my front door (I never opened the door). When I said I couldn’t help him, but I’d be happy to call the police to come and help him out, he said “No, please don’t do that, there’s no need for that.” By the time I had gone to grab my phone and come back to the front door, he was gone. I called 911 to report the incident and an officer came by within 15 minutes or so, spotlighting my property first and then coming to the front door to talk with me before further patrolling the area.

“Oliver” was African American, medium to light complexion, in his 30’s or 40’s, with a mustache and wearing a gray hat (an “ivy cap” style hat according to my search online). I was not able to read his drivers license through my window. His obvious panic when I said I’d be happy to call the police to come help him was the most striking thing about the conversation