Video shows intruder staring into Lakewood home with family inside before making way in
"I feel very violated," said the homeowner. "I feel like somebody had checked me in my own home, and it's not a good feeling."
LAKEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- A woman in Lakewood said she feels violated after an intruder waited for an hour outside her home before making his way in - all while her grandchildren were playing inside.
Surveillance video shared with Eyewitness News captured the intruder as he jumped over the fence and into Meka Davis' backyard.
The video shows him walking around the pool toward the house. At one point, he stops and stares inside. Davis said she didn't know he was out there.
She said her sister and grandchildren were inside.
"He stayed back there for an hour, watching and waiting to come into my home," said Davis. "In this case, you hear myself and my grandchildren up, laughing, playing around. My sister was here, walking back and forth, and he watched all of it."
Then, the intruder went inside. That's when Davis said she received a notification on her Ring app.
The children were upstairs, but she didn't know what the intruder could do, so she went to confront him.
"He was actually inside my house for 3 minutes and 42 seconds," recalled Davis. "I said, 'I see you! I still see you!' and you know, then he's ducking down."
The suspect ran off and jumped over the fence.
The property is along a golf course and investigators with the Lakewood Sheriff's Station believe the suspect could have been casing other homes in the area.
The intruder didn't take anything and no one was injured during the incident, but Davis said her feeling of safety and security in her own home is now gone.
"I feel very violated," she said. "I feel like somebody had checked me in my own home, and it's not a good feeling. It's caused me to have a lot of anxiety."
Davis said she's installing new lights in her backyard and the sheriff's department said it will increase patrols in the area.
