STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island homeowner was on his way to Brooklyn when his phone alerted him to activity at his video doorbell camera. Someone was trying to get into his Midland Beach home.
“I checked out the motion alert and saw that there was a gentleman in front of my house,” said Christian Schlager, to the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com, regarding the Saturday morning incident. “I’m watching him live, checking my door handle and make his way into my backyard.”
After seeing an unknown man on his property, Schlager immediately made a U-turn and phoned the police to alert them about the activity happening at his home.
According to an image shared by Schlager with the Advance, the doorbell cam shows a man outside his home around 9:15 a.m.
By the time the homeowner arrived back at his property, the stranger had broken into his home through the backdoor and took a bag of Schlager’s belongings from the laundry room. Luckily for the homeowner, there were items of little value in the bag.
“When I got back to the house I saw this gentleman in my backyard, holding my bag that was inside of my laundry area,” recounted Schlager. “I (confronted) him in the backyard.”
It was then that a scuffle ensued between Schlager and Seth Flint, 39, who police have since arrested and charged in connection to the incident.
Schlager recounted gaining the “upper hand” against Flint during the scuffle “pretty quickly,” before Flint fled from the property.
Although Schlager escaped the scuffle mostly unscathed, he now suffers from wrist pain due to the altercation and plans to get his injury checked by a doctor.
After the physical altercation, police apprehended Flint a short distance from Schlager’s home on the 500 block of Midland Avenue.
“The police arrived and caught him on foot about two blocks away from where it all occurred,” Schlager said.
According to DCPI, Flint has been charged with burglary. Court records indicate the defendant is due to appear in court on July 24.
Although Flint has been apprehended and charged in connection to the crime, according to Schlager, the suspect did not act alone. Schlager believes Flint had two accomplices who acted as lookouts while Flint allegedly burglarized the premises.
“The police said they couldn’t do anything about it because they technically never entered my property,” said Schlager.
Schlager felt compelled to share his story to send potential criminals a message: Don’t break into people’s homes.
“He broke into the wrong home,” Schlager contends.
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