PORTLAND, Ore. — A woman in Northeast Portland said an intruder walked into her home, stayed for 20 minutes and stole several valuables last weekend — all while she slept in her bedroom.
Misha Pierce told KGW she only found out about the intruder by watching back the footage from her family's pet camera, which showed the brazen burglar return — even once he discovered he was being recorded.
"Without the camera, we would've never known what happened," Pierce said. "He just peeks in, looks around, and just walks down the hallway and goes into my son's room and shuts the door."
Minutes later, the video shows the man heading out with a backpack and pillowcase. Pierce said her son's virtual reality goggles, a couple gaming systems and a pair of Jordans were stolen.
"He must have noticed the camera here as he walked out because he suddenly goes like this," Pierce said while holding a hand in front of her face. "And comes back into the view of the footage ... He put a mask on halfway through."
Pierce said she slept through it all and her dog didn't wake her. Timestamps from the video showed that the intruder was inside for 20 minutes.
"It makes me shake thinking about it. It's like, what if? What if [the dog's] barking would've woken me up and I would've woken up to a man in my hallway? What if he would've come into my room?"
Thankfully, he didn't. Pierce chalks up the whole thing to bad timing. She explained that her teenage son left the front door unlocked because he didn't want to wake his mom to get the key when he stepped out the door with his friends.
"My poor son feels so bad because he knows he should've locked the door, but I also don't want to put that blame on him because that's something that people should know better. You don't just open someone's door and go in whether they're home, or it's locked or unlocked," Pierce said.
Portland police confirm they are investigating the burglary.