Community Corner

Doorbell Ring and Run: Prank or Crime?

How do you feel about the old prank, now dubbed Ding Dong Ditch, that people are taking more seriously these days?

It’s an old prank with a new name and reaction — the random ring the doorbell and run scam, commonly perpetrated by adolescents and teens.

It's been dubbed “Ding Dong Ditch,” Rumson and Fair Haven residents who did not want to be identified, for fear of retribution, told Patch.

And rather than employing the old-time curbing method of chasing down the kids and threatening to tell their parents, victims of the act have been calling the police.

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some have brushed it off as a typical prank, while others are not amused and find it troubling, threatening and harassing, said .

In Fair Haven, as far as reported bell-ringers go, “This has been an ongoing incident for the past two years with the same resident,” Dykstra said. “The problem is that we don’t get the call about it until days after it happens, so the chances of catching them [the perpetrator or perpetrators] are slim.”

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Beyond the one repeat harassment complaint called in, Dykstra said that Fair Haven police get, “off the top of my head,” a couple of calls a month, usually in the summer — but nothing beyond that.

According to a, Dykstra “took a report from a Lewis Lane resident who reported multiple occurrences of harassment in which unknown individual(s) were allegedly ringing his doorbell and leaving the area.”

A Rumson resident, who did not want to be named, said that the incidents she has heard of are happening after 10 p.m., making it less of a typical prank and more an alarming type of harassment that she fears could be a precursor to criminal activity.

What do you think? Is this an alarming trend or a typical prank to which some residents are overreacting. And, tell us: Were you or anyone you knew a prank phone caller or doorbell ringer? Give us your anonymous answer in the poll and/or tell us how you feel about this issue in the comments section below.


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