Home surveillance video recorded the moment a burglar entered a home in the Montrose area on Easter Sunday, squeezing his way through a cat flap.
“He came inside the cat enclosure, busted out the cat flap and like peeled up the window screen and came in that way,” said the homeowner, who asked KPRC 2 to conceal her identity.
The home is located near the intersection of Fairview Street and Genesse in Montrose. The homeowner said she was away for the holiday, but returned Monday to find her home in disarray.
“The place was ransacked, and I really didn’t realize until I watched the video later on that he kind of hung out and did all of this stuff,” the homeowner said.
The video shows the intruder squeezing into the home before noticing the camera and tipping it over. The video continues, partially showing a man inside the home for hours.
“When he broke in it was like 1:30 p.m. and the last clip I have is like almost 4. I would estimate maybe like three hours that he was here,” she said, adding the intruder made himself at home during his stay.
“I know that he used the shower because a shower curtain was very wet, and the bath mat was very wet and I knew I didn’t leave it like that, and I had a towel missing that he must have taken,” she said.
The homeowner also suspects the burglar did laundry because the setting on her washer and dryer had been changed. She said he helped himself to what was in her kitchen as well.
“He had eaten ramen noodles, and then he had eaten some fried chicken nuggets I had in my freezer — a whole bag of chicken nuggets,” she recounted.
According to the homeowner, the burglar tried to steal a television, but couldn’t because of anti-theft locks around it. She said he did steal a Fitbit.
She reported the burglary to HPD, which continues to investigate.
“The police recognized him very quickly [and] said ‘Yeah, I’ve seen him before [and] know where he hangs out,” she said.
KPRC 2 checked with the Houston Police Department Wednesday. No arrests have been made.
The homeowner is relieved she wasn’t home, no one was hurt, and nothing of great value was taken. Still, she said she’s uneasy about her space being invaded.
“Really just in shock that it’s happening and he’s getting through there because I never thought somebody could fit through that little cubby. But he did! And he got in here, and then he hung around, and that’s really creepy.”