DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver homeowner is thankful for the Highlands community, saying a good Samaritan helped her stop a peeping Tom that targeted her home for five weeks in a row.
FOX31 first came out to 31st Avenue and Zuni Street Saturday to get ahold of Stacey Roof and ask her for video so we could warn our viewers. However, this story has taken a turn, from a warning to a highlight of the power of a post on Nextdoor and the community’s response.
Last week, Roof sent out a warning to her Nextdoor neighborhood. Her nest camera captured a man coming up, unscrewing her light and heading for her bushes to get a peep in her windows behind it.
“He usually shows up around 10:30 and stays until 11-11:30,” Roof said. “It scares the heck out of me, it creeps me out, he’s just a really creepy guy.”
Even more creepy, the footage is just from one of five consecutive Fridays the same man showed up at her door step.
Roof rents her home too, her current tenants were here for four of these visits and a tenant before that got the first one.
“I have always just missed him for the last five consecutive Friday’s until now,” Roof said.
This past Friday night, started the same as the last, with the man unscrewing the lightbulb. However, it ended differently because of the Nextdoor post Roof sent out.
“People said ‘is there anything we should do, we want to set bear traps, should we put sticky tape on lightbulbs, go out there with super soakers?’”
Roof said one neighborhood good Samaritan contacted her directly.
“The good Samaritan messaged me last week saying ‘I’m willing to ride my bike up and down the street next Friday to see if we can catch this guy,’” she said.
Roof said the good Samaritan saw the guy unscrew the lightbulb and started following him on his bike to relay his location to 911.
Footage from Roof’s Nest camera from later that night shows police returning to her porch to collect fingerprints from the lightbulb the man kept unscrewing.
“The police might not have caught him if it weren’t for this guy, I’m certain,” Roof said. “I am so elated, it’s been so stressful these past five weeks. The neighborhood came together and kind of got behind me.”
FOX31 reached out to Denver Police asking for a name, mug shot and charging information for this suspected peeping Tom. We are waiting for a response at this time.
Roof did say the detectives worked all night, contacting a judge for a warrant at 2 a.m. to make an arrest.