Caught on camera: Stranger says house is his, it isn’t, he threatens owners

Fort Lauderdale family watches on security camera as bizarre scene unfolds

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Fort Lauderdale family living in the Poinsettia Heights neighborhood watched in fear as a man tried to break into their home while they were inside.

On the family’s home security camera, the stranger can be seen walking up to the house. “This is my house,” he says. “You have five minutes until I start doing something.”

The couple inside begs the man to leave but he refuses.

At one point, he asked the voice automated assistant on his smartphone for an opinion on what he should do next.

“I have lots of opinions on things like music, movies and books,” the phone’s voice assistant tells him.

He then dragged trash cans closer to the front door apparently trying to barricade the people inside. As he continued to claim it was his house, he then went around to the backyard, and walked around there.

The residents inside, while witnessing the scary and bizarre encounter, called police.

Fort Lauderdale Police responded and located the man but they did not arrest him.

A police spokesman told Local 10 News that when officers responded they could not gather enough evidence to prove that a crime was committed — that was the reason they allowed the trespasser to go.

But police believe that someone else may have had a similar encounter, which could amount to a crime.

Detectives said there is an active investigation. They are asking anyone with information to call 954-764-4357.


About the Authors

Christian De La Rosa joined Local 10 News in April 2017 after spending time as a reporter and anchor in Atlanta, San Diego, Orlando and Panama City Beach.

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