Cops Ring Bell at 3 A.M. to Let Man Know Door's Unlocked [View All]

Source: AP

LAKEVILLE, Minn. — A Lakeville man says he feels violated after two local police officers woke him up at 3 a.m. Thursday to tell him his door was unlocked.

"I was violated, but ... I wasn't physically damaged," Troy Molde told the St. Paul Pioneer Press about what he considers an invasion of privacy at his home in this Minneapolis suburb.

The officers’ surprise visit was part of a public service campaign to remind residents to secure their homes to prevent thefts. Usually, officers just left notices on doors, but they went further in Molde's case.

With four children under 7 having a sleep over in the house, police went into the home and up to Molde's bedroom and started knocking on the wall to wake him up.

The officers told Molde his garage door was open, the TV was on, keys to his truck were left in the ignition and the door to his house was ajar.

Molde said he immediately thought something was wrong. "I was just dazed," he said. "It's not a safe way of (police) protection."

Lakeville Police Sgt. Jim Puncochar said the intrusion was justified because the officers' initial door knocks were not answered, so they went inside to check if anything was wrong.

He said the kids inside — Molde's two sons and two nephews — were afraid to wake Molde, so the officers went upstairs themselves. "It really was suspicious," Puncochar said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,369540,00.html

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I don't know what his area is like, but I never lock my doors (although granted, I have five dogs. I also keep my keys in the ignition. I sure as hell wouldn't want police coming into MY house, past MY kids, to knock on my frickin' bedroom door.