Welcome to the neighborhood! Now, what can you tell us about your neighbors?

My wife and I bought our first home and made the 9-mile move this weekend. The move went smoother than either of us could have imagined and within three hours we had loaded the moving truck from the apartment, driven to the new place, and unloaded the truck.

Macy's Furniture was delivering a couch we'd purchased two weeks ago in the evening and they called at 5:30 to say they'd be there in 10 minutes. 5 minutes later, Jamie's dad, who was rebuilding a closet for us, came in from the garage. The next 10 minutes played out something like this.

Dad: Joey, the cops are here for you!
Me: Is he joking? It has to be the furniture guys...
Dad: I'm serious!
I walk down to the entryway and a plainclothes officer (maybe bounty hunter? no...we'll go with officer!) with a badge around his neck and a lanyard sticking out of his pocket that says "Special Agent" walks in.
Officer: We're not here for you! What do you know about your neighbors?
Me: We just moved in here today.
Officer: Do you know the family next door?
Me: I saw them out with their dog earlier today.
Officer: Is it a colored family?
Me: Yes, they are. I didn't know the term "colored" was still used to describe black people...
Officer: Pulls out a folder and out of the folder presents a 8 1/2 X 11 mug shot. Can you ID him? Is this the guy you saw?
Me: Yes, that's him.
Officer: Over the radio: We've got a positive ID. Turns to me: How sure are you that this is the guy?
Me: 90% sure. I mean, I only saw him once, so take it for what it's worth, but I'm sure that's him.

The officer proceeded to ask a number of questions about when I'd last seen him and where the exits on the house were. Then he asked if I'd be willing to knock on the guy's door to try to get him to come out. Jamie and I agreed and started to head over. He started giving us instructions on what to do if the guy answered the door ("Just ask, 'Is ______ here?', then step to the left and we'll come in from the right and take it from there"). Thankfully, Jamie's dad was on the same page as I was and stepped in to say that since we'd have to be their neighbors and live next to them, maybe it was better if he knock on the door. Boy do I love my father-in-law! I don't mind helping an officer out, but I'd also prefer not to deal with harassment from my next-door neighbor.

As this was happening, the furniture truck pulled up and we had to address that as well. I never did hear what happened, though I do know the guy didn't answer the door and as far as I know he wasn't apprehended. I was simply assured, "He's not a violent, dangerous criminal, but he does need to serve jail time." Well great, thanks for the assurance and peace of mind! I emailed our police department today for more information, just to be safe.

Once the police had left, Jamie's dad summed it up well. With a pat on Jamie's back he declared,

"Nice neighbors!"

UPDATE 3/3 3:24 PM

I emailed the BPD about the incident today and got a call back from a sergeant. He left a voicemail for me and I left a voicemail for him. We'll see if anything comes of it.

UPDATE 3/3 3:33 PM

BPD called back. Nobody from their dept. was over here and they haven't had problems at either our address or our neighbor's address in years. He thinks our neighbor is probably someone living with a friend or relative and the guys who showed up were probably bounty hunters. I guess that's a good thing?