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Norfolk woman confronted by intruder urges investment in home security

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Posted at 4:34 PM, Jul 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-19 19:33:42-04

NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk woman is urging people to take home security seriously.

After a series of run-ins with criminals in just two years, the latest incident was not only scary, but bizarre.

At first glance, nothing really looks strange about Tamara Heys’ home security video from Monday afternoon: A man walked in the house, casually goes through the living room and makes a right down the hallway.

The problem is, it’s not his house.

“I all of a sudden just heard something and looked up, and there was a strange man standing at the bottom of my bed,” Heys explained.

Heys was home sick Monday afternoon when she was confronted by a man in military fatigues.

“I asked him, you know, what he was doing in my house, and he told me that someone told him that the door would be open and he could come in,” she said.

She says she yelled at him to get out of her house - which she admitted forgot to lock up - and then he turned around and casually walked away.

“I would have never thought something like this would happen, period, let alone at one o'clock in the afternoon on a Monday,” said Heys.

She doesn’t know if it was mischievous or a misunderstanding, but she says it was suspicious.

“I would think that my reaction and most people's would be, ‘Oh my gosh, you know, I'm so sorry. You know, this is a complete mistake,’ but he didn't do that; he just turned around and didn't say anything else.

Heys called police and even had the wherewithal to snap a picture of his car. She says that’s because this isn’t the first incident at her home.

She says here husband’s car was stolen and broken into three times while it was locked.

The family invested in outdoor lights and cameras inside and outside the house so they could better assist police.

Related: Virginia Beach home invasion caught on camera

Even with the lights and the cameras, nothing seems to have made her home safer, but she does find comfort in having cameras to help police investigate, and she would encourage others to do the same.

“At this point, you just need to take all the safety precautions that you can because you don't ever know,” said Heys.

On August 19, Heys reached back out to us and said police caught the intruder, who was someone who went to the wrong house. After police verified the facts, Heys said this incident had nothing to do with the break-ins.