Woman Who Came Face-To-Face With Brazen Home Invasion Robber Speaks Out To CBS2
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Residents of Santa Ana are on high alert Wednesday after a home invasion robber reportedly struck twice in the same apartment complex.
In both cases, he terrorized women he thought were alone. And in one of the cases, he held one woman against her will and asked her to cook for him.
One of those women -- a high school student -- spoke out about her ordeal to CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Stacey Butler, in a story only on CBS2.
"I just thought he was like a maniac," said the high school student.
She says after the man entered the apartment she shares with her family, she only had one thought. "Make a sound so someone would wake up."
But the girl -- whose name is Anna -- says she was too terrified to scream. "I was scared because he kept reaching inside his pocket. I thought he had a gun," said Anna.
The man forced her into the kitchen. "He grabbed me from the waist and pushed me like closer to him."
The man also warned her to keep quiet and not to wake anyone up.
Anna told Butler that is when she finally kicked a wall and woke up her family. They called 911.
The suspect made off with cash he stole from her mom's purse.
About six hours later, police say the suspect returned to the same apartment complex.
In the next crime, he reportedly wore a bandana over his face and broke into another apartment though a window.
Police say a young mother was home alone. She tried to run out the front door but the suspect grabbed her.
Officials say the man held the woman captive and even forced her to cook for him.
Detectives say the man made sexual advances, removed his pants and took photos of the woman before he smoked meth in her kitchen.
She begged him to leave and he fled with her bike and a camera.
The woman ran out of her apartment screaming for help, according to Anna. "She came out 'There was a guy in here'....she was really, really crying."
Police told Butler this suspect has to be caught and soon. "He hasn't hurt anybody yet but the mere fact that he will break into someone's house while they are in there. He will go through people's property while they're sleeping, that's pretty brazen. Our fear is that it will escalate."
