A man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly breaking into a house rented by a group of female USC students overnight.
The students say he entered their home, located in the 2700 block of Menlo Avenue, just after midnight Tuesday morning. Although unclear, they say he may have used a kitchen window or side door to sneak in.
Despite their attempts to contact USC’s Department of Public Safety, the man was never apprehended. So they called the Los Angeles Police Department to report Tuesday’s incident.
Sophia Ignon was studying at the front of the house with two of her housemates when they saw the man.
“She made direct eye contact with him as he stood in our kitchen,” Ignon said. “She and my other roommate just started screaming.”
They called 911 as they ran out of the house, but by the time police arrived he had already left.
They say he has been spotted in the area several times, sometimes peeking in through their windows, and on Saturday they even had Ring camera footage of him outside their home.
“We are afraid to be in our own home,” Ignon said. “We all had to like sleep together in a bed. We were up all night. We couldn’t fall asleep.”
Just before noon on Tuesday, a USC DPS officer told students that a suspect had been located a few blocks from their home and taken into custody.
Molly Bolland was at the back of the house when the man broke in. She says three of the other residents ran to her after he was spotted inside.
“An officer had the photo from this morning, a description of the shorts and the shirt, and they saw an individual who matched that description, so they contacted him,” said Lauretta Hill, head of the USC Department of Public Safety.
She says that officers were called to the house twice on Saturday for the same man who was hanging around in the area, but nothing criminal had happened at that time and that is why they took no further action.
Molly Bolland, who was in the back of the house when the man broke in, said she is relieved he
The head of USC’s Public Safety Department says officers were called to this address twice on Saturday for the same man, but that no criminal offense was committed at the time.
Molly Bolland says she feels great relief after the arrest, but that she also sympathizes with the man.
“I have sympathy for him,” Bolland said. “It just seems like he’s in trouble and it seems like he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. … He was just on the street. That was said to be heard.”
The suspect, who remains unidentified, was taken to the LAPD, where officers are trying to find out who he is and whether he has a criminal record.
DPS officers will continue to increase their patrols in the area despite the suspect being caught.
Jeff Nguyen
