Roseville Homeowner Hopes Surveillance Video Will Help Catch Burglar
ROSEVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) -- Roseville police are investigating a burglary at a home on Friday.
In this case, a hidden camera caught the thief in the act. As neighbors went about their business on a sunny Friday morning, a burglar went about his. Shattering a ground level window, he crawled in a townhome and stepped in front of a hidden camera.
Dressed in a reflective vest, he looked like he was there on business. Officers say he wasn't.
"This man definitely had a mission and he wasn't gonna let anyone get in his way," Lt. Lorne Rosand of the Roseville Police Department said.
He says the meticulous way he combed the house and wiped his prints from surfaces is a clue.
"Leads us to believe this wasn't this guy's first rodeo, he's burglarized before," Rosand said.
Officers have these sacred details because of the hidden camera that captured it all from the kitchen counter.
"That type of home surveillance is a big game changer for us," Rosand said.
The homeowner was out of town. His phone alerted him that his hidden camera spotted an intruder. He told WCCO what he imagines could have happened.
"He's gonna try to shoot me, to pistol whip me, anything could have gone down," he said.
He says he feel invaded.
"These type of things, they're scary," he said.
The video makes it even more frightening to his neighbors. Nikki, who lives down the street, says, "We know them, we think about how it could happen to any of us so it's scary."
Malia also lives in the area.
"I was kind of freaked out when I saw it so I was like I'm gonna close all the windows and all the doors," she said.
The homeowner bought his hidden camera for $200. Officers hope that investment will soon solve this crime and stop future ones.
"Within days someone will sniff him out and we'll make an apprehension," Rosand said.
Roseville police say if the man in the video looks familiar, call 911. They believe he is armed.
