Man accused of peeping inside off-campus Temple apartment: police
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Police Department is searching for a man accused of peeping inside an off-campus apartment of a Temple University student multiple times.
Security video captured a man who appears to walk up second-story stairs, stop in front of window before crouching down and shining a light inside.
"It really disturbed me," Haley O'Reilly said. "It really scared me."
O'Reilly was at work at the time when she got a phone notification about movement in front of her window at her off-campus apartment near the Temple.
"Usually," O'Reilly said, "I don't think much of it because it'll notify me about small stuff."
But the junior Temple student looked at her camera from her phone and watched the unknown man walk away.
It happened on Dec. 18 within the university's campus safety patrol zone.
"I had to tell my roommates. Thankfully, he didn't try anything," O'Reilly said. "But who knows if he plans to come back again. But this is the second time an incident like this has occurred."
O'Reilly says the first incident happened earlier this while she was home.
"This man had been looking at me through my bedroom window," O'Reilly said. "It really frightened me. I wasn't sure what I saw at first so I ducked into a corner."
"I had to just sprint across the room and turn off the lights and then when I looked again," O'Reilly added, "I still saw somebody there and it confirmed in my head, somebody is watching me. Really frightening."
O'Reilly had a feeling the stranger would come back so she set up a camera in her window and was shocked to see him return.
"I realized he had the same outfit on and once he shined the light in my apartment," she said, "I realized it was definitely the same person as the first time."
"This is a challenging time for our city," Temple University president Jason Wingard said last week.
Wingard spoke about crime happening off campus last week after announcing he's planning to move into a home in North Philly.
"There are some safety and violent crime issues that have been happening in our neighborhoods," Wingard said. "I don't have concerns for my own safety. Look, when we talk to students, we talk about protocols, safety measures that they are safe."
Still, students CBS Philadelphia spoke with Tuesday were stunned when they were shown the security video of the man allegedly looking through the window with a flashlight.
"That's very disturbing considering there's been so many home invasions lately around campus," junior Emily Starks said.
"I don't feel like it's safe enough to be off campus," junior Elizabeth Murillo said.
Philadelphia police say its special victims unit is aware of these incidents and officers are searching for the man in the video.
O'Reilly hopes other students are on the lookout for that man and secure their apartments if they head home for winter break.
"This is the prime time when students are away from break," she said, "so this could be an opportunity for him to try to get into student housing. Be careful, lock your doors."
Temple University said in a statement, "TUPD police officers are being briefed by their supervisors during pre-shift roll call and are patrolling the area to locate the suspect."
Temple is also urging other potential victims to come forward and report any incidents to police.
