A photo of the unidentified man captured by a resident’s doorbell camera.
A photo of an unidentified man ringing the doorbell of a house has caused apprehension as well as warnings not to jump to conclusions after the photo was posted to Facebook by the Lincoln Police Department.
The image was captured by the doorbell camera of a South Great Road resident who wasn’t home at the time — Saturday, Sept. 5 at about 12:30 p.m., according to police. The man was wearing a hoodie, heavy gloves, and a military-style mask that obscured most of his face.
In a discussion of the photo on LincolnTalk, some wondered why someone would be dressed on a hot summer day in what one resident characterized as “deliberately scary, identity-obfuscating gear” while other noted that face masks are common in this Covid-19 era. Another resident reluctantly raised the possibility that the man was Black while also adding, “Are we in a situation where we have assumed something because the color of someone’s skin by definition made him ‘other’ and ‘suspicious’?”
Police noted in their Facebook post that the man was operating a small motorcycle or scooter. In the photo he was holding what could be a helmet with his left arm.
“Someone could say that [clothing] is consistent” with motorcycle-riding attire, but “other people could say he’s overly dressed based on the weather,” Police Chief Kevin Kennedy said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
The sister of the resident whose house was involved wrote that the home is on a busy road but well off the street. When the homeowner reported the incident to police, the officer mentioned that there had been a few break-ins in Concord and Weston, the homeowner’s sister added.
Potential burglars sometimes ring a doorbell first to see if anyone is home; if someone answers the door, they can then make an excuse such as having gotten lost or being there to perform repairs at the home, Kennedy noted. There were no signs of a break-in, though “there could be other things going on” that might have forestalled an attempt, he added.
“You have to go into this with an open mind, and it doesn’t appear at this point that a crime was committed,” Kennedy said. “I don’t want anyone to think that this person is associated with any crime at this point.
“This is not a case of someone innocently driving through town and being unfairly profiled” by Lincoln police, a resident wrote on LincolnTalk.
“There are plenty of red flags here that don’t involve [skin] color,” another resident wrote. “They put the picture out to see if others saw this person and witnessed any suspicious behavior. Just diligent police work.”
“It’s not for us to judge. At the same time, [it’s] not wrong to ask respectful questions in these weird times,” another resident wrote.
Anyone who recognizes the man in the photo is urged to call Detective Ian Spencer at 781-259-8113.