Why Sacramento police didn't respond to couple's call of man trying to bust down door to home
SACRAMENTO — A Sacramento couple experienced a scare when they said a homeless man tried to bust through their door in the middle of the night. Despite calling 911, the police never showed up.
"It was very violent," said Cassady Phillips, who made the 911 calls. "It was very loud and very aggressive."
It happened at a home near 15th and E Streets in the Mansion Flats neighborhood just before 4:30 on Wednesday morning.
Phillips said it started with the suspect ripping the screen off a window and then they were woken up to the sound of someone trying to bust down their door with a wood plank.
Phillips showed CBS13 the damage, saying that the suspect ripped off the metal mail slot as she called 911 and then he left and came back minutes later — this time with more force.
"He kept shoving it through and he was able to wrestle it away from him," Phillips said.
Phillips said her boyfriend yanked the wood out of the suspect's hands through the broken mail slot. He then captured photos of the suspect, who appears to be homeless wearing a vest and carrying a skateboard, through the hole.
"If someone calls and says, 'My door is being busted in,' just come by, even if it's half an hour late," Phillips said. "Nobody came by."
Sacramento police confirmed with CBS Sacramento that no officers responded to the home. The department called what happened vandalism. On Wednesday night, the department said officers in the area were advised to be on the lookout for the man Phillips called 911 about.
"This, to me, is not vandalism," Phillips said. "This takes a lot of force. This is not someone who was just messing with the door."
Police said, based on the damage, this was not an attempted break-in but said they would have responded had the suspect entered the home or if the hole was big enough for someone to fit through.
"I would really appreciate the bare minimum," Phillips said.
Other neighbors who were too afraid to show their faces on camera got emotional.
"It's like they ignore us," one neighbor said. "We stay in our house and suffer sometimes."
The damaged door damaged a sense of safety for the couple, leaving them wondering what could have happened had the suspect broken the door down completely.
"It happened not that long ago, so I don't want to say traumatizing, but this is going to affect me forever," Phillips said.
Police said the fact that the suspect left the scene and came back was also a reason why they are calling this vandalism. The couple fears this could happen again and is calling on the city to do more.
No arrests have been made.
CBS13 also reached out to the city councilmember who represents the district but never heard back.
