'It was fight or flight,' Waltham woman says hand came through window AC in break-in attempt
WALTHAM - A Waltham woman said a stranger tried to break through her bedroom window at her home on Pond Street Sunday night. Sheiva Nooraee's air conditioning unit sits on the floor now and the window is shut after the frightening ordeal.
"It's not normal for a human hand to come through your window at night," said Sheiva Nooraee.
It was about 10:15 p.m. when she heard someone fumbling with her air conditioning unit from the outside, apparently trying to break in and then saw a hand.
"It was fight or flight and I went with flight and I kind of like ran out of the room, shut the door and then I just called 911," Nooraee said.
She didn't dare flee the house, fearing the would-be intruder might be lurking outside her locked door, where her security camera captured the police response but not the suspect, suggesting he must have crept up from behind the house. He tried to get in, even though the lights were on, and the TV was blaring.
"I didn't know what to think, I didn't know if he was trying to come in to like steal things, or if he wanted to hurt me," Nooraee said. "It was just really scary."
Her sister Shayda was staying at a friend's house, and after this incident, doubts she will sleep very well for the foreseeable future.
"I don't feel safe here, which isn't great. I want to feel safe in my own home," Shayda Nooraee said.
Police scoured the neighborhood but didn't find the guy. Neighbor Emily Jachowicz uses a window AC unit in her first-floor apartment, but she is going to take it out.
"I'd rather sweat it out than you know risk it," Jachowicz said. "The AC is right there. Easy enough."
Sheiva Nooraee never saw the man's face, just that hand. So, she wasn't able to give police much except that the mystery suspect was white. She's sharing her story to let her neighbors know they should be on guard.
"My hope is that people are just careful," Sheiva Nooraee said. "Just make sure everything is secure at night."
Waltham Police are asking people on Pond Street to check any home surveillance video they might have to see if it caught anyone suspicious between 10 and 10:30 Sunday night.