Yes, they were checking to see if you guys were home. Be careful. In my neighborhood, too many incidents are starting to make me feel uneasy. I got followed when I was walking my dog late last year. That was scary as hell. Hubby's factory tires from his GMC Sierra truck got stolen a few months ago from our driveaway. This past saturday, there was a home invasion in the neighborhood. The homeowner ended up shooting one of the suspects and he also got shot. http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8612770
That's why I like to clean my guns in the garage with the doors open on weekends and have two cars to choose from to drive to work.
We have a hand gun and my wife has her CHL. We also have some cameras that record what is happening. No fear here. Just being a boy scout and being prepared rather than sorry.
Easy way around this - live in a building with a doorman. Nobody is going to go up 9 floors in an elevator or walk up 4 flights of stairs to rob you.
They all happened during the early 90s (during David Dinkins reign [ptooey]) when I was a Chinese kid living in a poor neighborhood. Some parts of NY was just horrible to be in around that time. Unfortunately I lived in one of them