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Caught on camera: Would-be intruder walks up to Suffolk family’s home with weapon as they slept

Teen caught on camera
Posted at 6:10 PM, Jul 11, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-12 10:48:00-04

SUFFOLK, Va. – A chilling scene played out on a Suffolk family's Ring doorbell over the weekend.

In the video, a teen can be seen slowly walking up to the door of a home on Everets Road in Suffolk. He stops right before he gets to the porch and turns around, then, seems to quickly change his mind and continues up the steps.

In his hand, you can see he’s holding a knife.

“The part that bothered me is to see this individual coming onto my property with a weapon,” said the man who lives at the home, who didn't want to be identified. “After seeing that, it put me into high alert mode, which is kind of not safe. I didn’t sleep upstairs last night. I slept down here in preparation to protect my house.”

The frightening moment happened at 3 a.m. Sunday. The husband, his wife, their toddler and their mother were all sound asleep.

“I was scared. I was scared,” said the woman of the household. “I’m a tough girl from New York. I’ve seen a lot of things, but to be living in an area I presume to be safe for my family with my child and my mother and my husband and to see that, I was scared.”

The family believes the teen was trying to break in.

“We can only assume what they really were thinking, but the fact that you even had a knife meant that you guys were plotting and planning something that’s not smart,” the wife said.

Once at their doorstep, the video shows the teen grabbing the Ring camera and pulling it off the home’s siding.

Seconds later, as the camera dangles pointing at the ground, you can hear a car squealing off. The teen never made it inside the home.

“I can only say that we’re thankful that they decided to run,” the wife said.

Police identified the teen by Monday afternoon. News 3 blurred his face in the surveillance video, because he’s underage.

The family is still shaken up. They’re now warning others to be on alert.

“We’re just concerned, not just for our safety but everybody’s safety,” she said. “It was our home this time, but it could’ve been anybody’s.”

Police said surveillance cameras can be a deterrent for would-be criminals and add that having that video does help them solve crimes.

Meantime, the family isn’t taking any chances. They said they bought more surveillance cameras to put outside their home including the blind spots.