Mesquite police looking for peeping Tom
MESQUITE (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Some North Texas residents are more than a little uneasy as they prepare for bed tonight.
They live in a Mesquite neighborhood where a man has been recorded on camera at night peeping into windows and even trying to get inside homes.
Police say that it appears the intruder is targeting homes where young females live.
"My wife was like, 'Hey check the camera, there's a random guy just walking around the back of our garage,'" said Luis Rojas.
Rojas and his family were on vacation two nights ago when their backyard security camera alerted them to a man prowling on their property and covering his face.
"It's scary...because I have two little girls," he said.
Mesquite police are looking for the man who's been captured on multiple cameras in the College Park neighborhood peeping in windows and even trying to the open the locked doors of homes near I-30 and Motley.
"We've seen him remove light bulbs from front porches, we've seen him in flower beds messing with landscape lighting, so there's definitely some criminal intent there," said Lt. Brandon Ricketts with the Mesquite Police Department.
Police have documented at least eight incidents involving the same man just in the last month and several others dating back to last fall.
What makes the sight of this man trying to open doors even more frightening to women like Elsa Medrano is that police believe the night prowler is targeting homes where younger females live.
"It just makes you feel really unsafe, especially just being a woman," Medrano said. "It's an easy target. God forbid I'm out with my kids and something would happen but it's just very uncomfortable."
If and when police do catch this guy, he's facing at least a few felony burglary charges.
Until then, police say they will have extra patrols and recommend these residents be extra vigilant – locking doors, windows and closing the garages.
