Philadelphia Man Arrested After Allegedly Entering 3 Langhorne Homes With Unlocked Front Doors
LANGHORNE, Pa. (CBS) -- Police have a warning after a man was arrested for allegedly breaking into several homes. The man is accused of entering three homes in Langhorne, one with a teenage girl home alone inside.
Middletown Township police are describing this as a crime of opportunity.
They say a man entered three homes on a busy street early last night, all of which had one thing in common -- the front doors were unlocked.
Twenty-four hours later, a teenage girl is OK after locking herself in her bedroom when the man entered her house while she was home alone.
"A homeowner had gotten a notification on his cellphone from his Ring door system that a tall, thin Black male had made entry into his home through the front door and that his 14-year-old daughter was at home," Middletown Township Police Lt. John Michniewicz said.
Police say the home invader didn't stop there.
"A subject fitting the same description had just made entry into another home," Michniewicz said.
William McDuffie, 22, of Philadelphia, is charged with 11 counts of burglary and resisting arrest.
Police say McDuffie entered at least three homes on the 200 block of South Hawthorne Avenue in Langhorne Monday night just after 8 p.m. before trying to run away.
"There was a short chase, I believe, before they were able to take him into custody," Michniewicz said.
Neighbors described what they saw.
"All the police just started showing up and searching around the house. It looked like they set up like a perimeter," neighbor Allan Gaidas said.
Police say they're still trying to figure out why McDuffie was there.
"We don't know why he was in the area, we don't know why he was doing what he was doing," Michniewicz said.
"They use it as a pass through so we get alot of people just moving around on the street," Gaidas said.
Something that has become clear, all three homes targeted had one thing in common.
"All of these homes the door was unlocked at the time," Michniewicz said.
McDuffie is being held on $250,000 bond at the Bucks County Prison awaiting a preliminary hearing.
Again, police say with so many students home for remote learning, the warning tonight for all parents is to make sure all of your doors are locked at all times.
CBS3's Alicia Roberts reports.
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