Residents catch two attempted break-ins in north Columbia

Karrie Mitchell saw a man in a plaid shirt when she returned home Tuesday afternoon standing at the front door of a neighbor. She felt it was suspicious, considering the man wore long sleeves and a backpack in early August. After heading into her house for a few minutes, she heard a sound at her back patio door. Then, the sound of someone trying to open her screen window behind the house.

With adrenaline pumping and cell phone ready, Mitchell made a bold move.

“That’s when I opened the blind and yelled at him,” Mitchell told ABC 17 News. “So he jumped backwards and I startled him, so he took off. And I think just me yelling at him scared him enough to make him go away.”

Columbia police investigated the attempted break-in for nearly an hour Tuesday afternoon in the 4800 block of Orchard Lane in north Columbia. Sergeant Brian Tate said the suspect ran south towards Melissa Drive after Mitchell confronted him. Police used a K9 unit to try and locate the man, as well, described by Mitchell and other neighbors as a six-foot tall, slender, white man wearing a black hat and “scruffy” facial hair.

“I think [I] probably should have taken a picture of the guy, maybe even as I was yelling at him, so that way I had something to show the cops,” Mitchell said. “But I got a good look at him, so that was good.

On Monday, Mitchell said a similar situation happened at her house. Her dog started barking at someone at the front door. When Mitchell got there, she saw someone was trying to pick the lock, having already succeeded at one of them.

“So I ran over to the door and I re-locked it, and not too long after I re-locked it, the bottom doorknob unlocked, so whoever was out there had been able to pick the lock, or I don’t know how they would be able to unlock the door,” Mitchell said.

While neither she nor Sgt. Tate could say for sure if it was the same suspect, Mitchell said the description of the man she saw Tuesday closely matched the blurred image of the man she saw through the front door window on Monday. Another neighbor told ABC 17 News he saw a man Monday walking through backyards that closely fit the description of the man seen the next day in the area.

Joe Jennings, who lives across the street from Mitchell, said he spoke with her after Monday afternoon’s incident. He said he also saw the man walk through his front yard Tuesday afternoon, stopping quickly at other people’s doors before moving down the street.

Sgt. Tate said people are always welcome to report suspicious activity in their neighborhoods or ask for occasional police passes of their vacant houses. However, he encouraged people to get to know their neighbors for an added layer of security.

“Your best option is to contact your neighbors and let them know you’re going to be gone,” Sgt. Tate said. “Ask someone you trust to come over and check on your house to keep an eye out for you. Because your neighbors are seconds away when we might be minutes away.”