Image via Howtolucid
Have you ever had one of those moments where in hindsight, you realize you made a very, very stupid decision? That happened not too long ago for my husband and I after we chased the guy down who had broken into our apartment before. How would we know? We have a home security system, and very sensitive security cameras that pick up on just about everything.
Let me do a little rewinding. One day, my husband and I left the home to grab a bite to eat, and he forgot to lock the door (which is very much him). Our dog, a 120 pound Rottweiler, stayed home and waited for us by the door. Fast forward 30 minutes, and a short man with a gray hoodie pulled up and over his head walked up to our door and looked around. He waited several minutes, standing there awkwardly, and then started to open the door.
Our dog met him at the door immediately, barking, and the perpetrator ran away. We came home and were immediately alarmed that our door was open, but there was our dog, happy and excited that we were home. After closing the door and looking over our footage, we watched the entire scene unfold. A wave of nausea and fear filled me. This guy had brazenly attempted to break into our apartment- and during the day!
You’d think that the run-in with our dog would have scared him enough, but guess what? He came back. Two. More. Times. The second time, he entered the apartment building and checked our neighbor’s apartments. He then lit several cigarettes and stood near the trash can at the end of the hall. After checking whether doors were locked or not (that’s at least what he appeared to be doing), he skulked around to the back of the building.
When we returned to the apartments, we opened the hallway door and the smell of cigarettes filled the air. Just then, he rushed forward and past us, running down the sidewalk until he disappeared from site. His eyes were large and wild, his dark skin looked thin and tight on his bones, and his clothes appeared worn out, possibly handmedowns.
“What the hell?” We both were shocked by the encounter, and even more so that he’d returned. We were sure it was him, as he was wearing the same backpack and the same hoodie. Our apartment building only housed 5 apartments, and we knew each of our neighbors. He wasn’t one of them. When we showed the footage to our neighbors, they didn’t know him either. Reports of items and cars being stolen from our neighborhood had already started before we’d seen him. We were all spooked. We called our property management who then called police dispatch, but unfortunately there wasn’t much they could do other than take our account of what happened.
One month later, we caught the same man attempting to break in. This time the building security system was ready for him, and we had a new electric lock on the door that opened up to our hallway. As soon as he saw us, he took off. Truthfully, I was so ticked that this guy had been doing this, that I ran upstairs, grabbed my dog and we gave chase. The guy hid in someone’s backyard near the alley, but we cornered him and demanded to know why he kept breaking into our building (please don’t ever do what we did- it was completely stupid and dangerous).
The guy was shaking and spoke extremely broken English. He stuttered that he’d wanted to “use our laundry”. Yeaaaah… Laundry, huh?
I pulled out my phone and dialed the police. He jumped at the opportunity and ran into a building. Eventually, when we showed the police the building he’d gone into, he was nowhere to be found (in all likelihood, he probably left out of the backdoor).
We never did see him again. They always say third time’s the charm.
That situation really opened our eyes to the reality of crime and how easy it can be for a criminal to prey on everyday citizens.
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