DENVER (KDVR) — A mother in Denver shared a video showing a would-be burglar walk up to her home and rip the doorbell camera off the wall.
Melissa, who wants to keep her last name anonymous for safety reasons, lives with her daughter in the Platt Park neighborhood.
Doorbell video captured around 3:30 a.m. Sunday showed a man with a bicycle, crow bar and large bag walk up to their front door. The suspect then kicks the door and tears the Ring doorbell camera from the brick wall before fleeing.
“I watched the video a second time, and at that moment I said out, loud, oh my gosh, someone tried to break into my house,” Melissa said.
The suspect then leaves her front porch with the camera in hand, and it has now been reported stolen. Melissa said she isn’t sure what the suspect wanted with the camera, but she is happy he left with it rather than breaking into her home.
Melissa and her daughter were out of town when this all happened. She worries the suspect had been watching their home waiting for them to leave. Before returning Sunday afternoon, she called police and had an officer do a walk-through of her home.
“What would I have done if we were home? How would have I handled that? How would I have protected myself? How would I have protected my daughter?” Melissa said.
Denver Police said burglaries are at a 30% increase year-to-date in comparison to the previous three-year average.
“My daughter says she won’t stay at home alone anymore, not even during the day,” Melissa said.
The homeowner has filed a police report and now reinstalled a new camera as they said they feel more nervous than before.