Resident Shouts but Fails to Complete
3 Cases of Trespassing and 1 Attempt... Investigating Additional Crimes
A man in his 20s, who was booked on charges of repeatedly breaking into the home of a woman he did not know, was found to have attempted to break into another house but failed.
According to the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency on the 13th, a man in his 20s, identified as A, attempted to break into a house in Dong-gu, Daejeon last month, but the attempt failed after the resident shouted.
Earlier, A had been under police investigation on charges of trespassing and theft for breaking into the home of a female university student B, who lives alone in Dong-gu, Daejeon, three times over about a month starting from the 7th of last month.
A person named A breaking into another person's house through the gap in the window security bars [Photo by Yonhap News]
A’s crimes were uncovered when a notification appeared on B’s mobile phone indicating that someone had logged into KakaoTalk on a PC. After returning home, B found the toilet seat cover in the bathroom raised and the washing machine power turned off midway, which seemed suspicious. She then checked the nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. Through this, B learned of A’s criminal acts and reported them to the police.
The police analyzed the CCTV footage and obtained a search warrant to identify the suspect’s movements and identity, leading to A’s booking on the 8th. He broke in by using the outdoor unit of the air conditioner in front of B’s apartment as a stepping stone to climb up to the window, then squeezed his body through a 30cm gap between the security bars to enter. A stole lip balm and beverages from B’s room. After the crime, he exited through the front door instead of the window. He even urinated in front of B’s window. However, there was no evidence that A continuously watched or stalked B.
B moved out due to this incident but is experiencing extreme anxiety.
B told Yonhap News, “When I checked the time of the break-in, it was just 1 to 2 minutes after I left the house. It’s very distressing to think that someone might be constantly watching me. Even when no one is home, I find myself looking around nervously and feeling scared.”
A, an office worker, admitted to all the crimes during the police investigation but stated that “there was no sexual motive.” He has not disclosed any other motives for his crimes. The police are investigating whether there are signs that A broke into other houses as well.
During the investigation, the police applied for a pretrial detention warrant for A, combining one charge of attempted trespassing and three charges of trespassing, but the prosecution decided not to request it. A representative from the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office said, “A is a first-time offender and confessed to all crimes during the police investigation. We judged that there was no risk of evidence tampering or flight.”
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