Homeowners who captured the disturbing incident on their Ring camera called the police, who said the man wasn't going to be arrested. Hours later the suspect was arrested, for allegedly breaking into a nearby apartment.
Terrifying video shows a man armed with a metal tool attempting to break into a home in the middle of the night. He tried to jimmy the front door lock, peered into the window and then rang the doorbell.
Homeowner Robert Hemingway, who was out of town, watched the events unfold on his phone through the Ring cam, while his wife Cindi was sleeping inside alone.
“The moment of fear was when he was ringing the doorbell, because I didn’t know what was going to happen after that,” Hemingway told Inside Edition.
“I knew when the doorbell rang, that the next move was going to be the glass breaking on the door, so I knew I had to answer the ring,” Cindi said.
After Cindi responded with the door still closed, the man was slurring his words and appeared out of it.
“I engaged with the man. I didn’t know what to say, so I said I’m sorry,” Cindi said.
When cops arrived, the suspect had wandered off, but he could still be seen in the neighborhood. Cindi showed the officers the surveillance footage, but they said they couldn't arrest him.
“There’s certain elements that we need to meet for a crime to take him in,” an officer was heard saying. “Unfortunately, what he did does not meet the elements.”
The story took an even more disturbing turn when, just a few hours after the suspicious man was reported to police, he allegedly took off his clothes and broke into a nearby apartment and into the bedroom of 12-year-old twins.
It reportedly took three men to restrain the suspect, who was then taken into custody.
Cindi says she was outraged that he wasn't arrested the first time. “Come on, folks, what are we waiting for? Rape? Murder?” she said.
It turns out, the suspect has an extensive rap sheet, with 42 prior arrests.
