Editor’s note: The resident in this story reached out to The Signal asking that her story be told. She agreed to an interview. After the story was published online, she subsequently asked that her name be omitted from the story. Her name is being omitted from this story strictly as a courtesy.
A husband and wife trying to relax and enjoy their favorite shows in their bedroom were alarmed, literally, after someone set off their home-security system in Canyon Country.
While the whole incident took a matter of minutes, it was an experience that won’t be forgotten any time soon, according to one of the residents.
The wife, who asked to remain unidentified due to safety concerns, added that she hoped the experience serves as a reminder for people to be more vigilant about home security.
The pair had just settled down for the evening to enjoy their TV, when she heard the alarm permeate the house.
“It was about 5, a little after 5 p.m. It was daylight … you know, busy time of day. My husband and I were home because that day we had to go up to Lancaster to pick up a new mattress,” she said.
The couple, who live on Oakmont Drive in Canyon Country, were in the master bedroom down the hallway of their two-bedroom apartment when their plans were abruptly interrupted.
“So thank God we had the presence of mind to put our alarm on before we went to the back to go lay down,” she said.
About five minutes after the couple changed into their “night clothes,” it went off.
“We got up and we opened the door to our bedroom and nothing looked different,” she recalled.
She knew it was unlikely their roommate who stayed between their bedroom and the front door had come home without disabling the alarm.
“So in like half a second, my mind is computing all this stuff: ‘Why would she come in and not turn the alarm off? Oh my gosh, that’s not her. Someone’s in a room. Someone’s in our house. Oh my God,’” she said.
She immediately called 911 and notified them that someone was in their house.
Then she and her husband sprang into action.
She picked up a knife from her butcher block because that’s all she had, she said, and while she was trying to explain the urgency of the situation to the 911 dispatcher, one of the suspects opened their roommate’s door.
The suspect saw them in the hallway, shouted an expletive and then immediately tried to shut the roommate’s door and block it so no one else could get in.
The wife interpreted the situation to mean the suspect didn’t have a weapon, she said, and so then she ran out of her apartment and tried to meet the suspect as he sought escape out their first-floor window.
“I don’t know why he had his back out the window but he did, so I just took a running charge at him and I hit him like a linebacker,” she said.
“He went flying back into the room but he sprang up really fast,” she added.
At this point, she began wrestling with the burglar on the patio of their apartment outside the window, and she managed to hook her leg around his leg and started punching him in the kidneys, she said.
Meanwhile, the burglar’s accomplice jumped over his partner and ran out of the apartment, distracting the wife, which allowed the intruder she was wrestling with to get away, she said.
“He didn’t hit me,” she said. “He didn’t try to, he just wanted to get away.”
She described the suspects as two Hispanic men who were wearing all black, including face masks.
In the description released by the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station: The first suspect was described as a man between the ages of about 20 and 30, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 175 pounds and wearing a black jacket and dark pants. The second suspect was a man roughly 30 to 35 years old, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, wearing a black hoodie, black mask, a black hat and black pants.
She also said deputies from the SCV Sheriff’s Station were there in what seemed like “less than 60 seconds,” but by that time, the thieves had already made off with a laptop, according to previous reports.
She said since the break-in, she added cameras to her home security system, and something she hadn’t considered before — a weapon.
“We’re definitely looking into getting a gun,” she said, adding she’s never been a big gun person, but the experience left her somewhat rattled. “I am all for gun safety laws. I’m all for responsible gun usage — but I am also for protecting myself and my family.”
If she could offer any advice for anyone in a similar situation, she said she would tell them to make sure they have cameras, because they’re a great deterrent, call 911 as soon as possible and to try and be as clear and calm when speaking to the dispatcher.
“I think that’s basically the main thing that I want people to remember is to immediately call 911. And immediately just give an address. Fill in the details later,” she said. “Just tell them the address and start getting somebody to you. And I think just be vigilant, people. This was a crazy, crazy time in our world. And people just do not care about anything anymore.”
