GREENSBORO, North Carolina — Homeowner Drew Brown lives off Cornwallis in the Irving Park area of Greensboro. A couple weeks back, he awoke early in the morning to find someone he didn't know in his room!
"On Sunday morning I was sleeping in on a snow day, it was icy out front," he said, "And unfortunately, I got woken up by a guy in my bedroom. He had come and broke through this window, and, I guess he was just looking for a place to sleep because it was very cold outside."
Brown says, he figured his home was a target because of all the repairs he's doing on the first floor, admitting, it can appear to be empty. While the encounter left him a bit shaken he's glad, it wasn't worse.
"I screamed, to be honest with you I was just in shock and he was out of there," Brown said.
"To some degree I was glad I didn't have a firearm. If I had a firearm and I pulled it out him, he might have fired back. So in that regard, it worked out for the best."
Since then, he's made sure to have more lights on at all times even when he's not there.
He filed that police report on January 13. Fast forward to this past weekend when there was another break-in at a home, less than a mile away.
Greensboro Police say there's no big uptick in this crime right now, but it's always good to know how to secure your home. Here are some of those tips:
- Lock your doors and windows, even if you're there.
- Check on your security devices, like alarm systems, regularly to make sure they work.
- Close your curtains at night.
- Avoid letting anyone in, or giving out too much information, like keys and lock combos.
- Neighbors checking on neighbors, and staying on top of anything strange, helps too.
- Consider putting your lights on a timer, because they can be a big deterrent to criminals.
- Leave a radio or TV playing softly when you're not home.
- If you're planning a trip, stop your mail service, or have a friend pick it up.
For more information from GPD, click here.