Police: Cambridge Woman Finds Stranger Hiding In Her Shower

CAMBRIDGE (CBS) -- On busy Broadway in Cambridge, women are suddenly worried.

Liz Meinert lives in Cambridge and says, "We are new to the area we just moved from North Carolina and it's the harsh reality of city living."

Harsh and startling say police after a woman went into her bathroom and a man was hiding in the bathtub. He ran off and she called police, but when they returned on Monday something even scarier happened.

Cambridge Police Deputy Superintendent Steven DeMarco says, "When they got back to the station they got a frantic call, that the person from the evening before was at the residence."

The man was back. Two visits in two days by the same stranger.

Neighbor Carrie Nettles says that's "literally my worst fear. I leave my curtain open cause I'm terrified of opening shower curtain and finding someone in there."

Cambridge Police responded and found the suspected intruder, a 33-year-old homeless man from Boston down the street. He told them he was there to visit a friend, but couldn't tell them who or where. He was arrested, but this comes at the same time the city is dealing with a rash of break ins in nearby Cambridgeport.

"Since May, we've had 27 reported breaks in one neighborhood," DeMarco says. "That's a lot."

So police plan to go door to door Wednesday and Thursday to warn people and check how secure their homes are. They want to put out the warning to be extra vigilant.

Police arrested 33-year-old Cornelius Reed and charged him with breaking and entering.

Reed told officers that he was in Cambridge to see a friend whom he believed lived on Broadway, but had no other information about the friend, according to police.

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• Cambridge
• Broadway