Intruder walks into family’s bedrooms
A mother and her two teenage daughters have been left terrified after waking up to find a hooded intruder searching their bedrooms for valuables.
In the early hours of yesterday, the person entered 13-yearold Jasmin Grant’s room in Whaler’s Gate, New Plymouth, went under her bed and grabbed her hoverboard while she lay fast asleep.
Next the intruder went to her
15-year-old sister Micayela’s room, searching by cellphone light as she watched from her bed, frozen and unable to speak.
‘‘I sort of woke up and was thinking ‘who’s that?’ At first, I thought it was my uncle. Then he walked out, closed my door and walked into Mum’s room. I heard his jacket and heard him walk up the stairs, so I quickly ran into Mum’s room and said ‘there is someone in the house’.’’
But her mother, Judith Hazelgrove, already knew.
‘‘I woke up at 4am to him entering my room,’’ she said.
‘‘As soon as he opened up the door, I stared and looked at him and he just walked away, backpack on and jacket with the hood on, and just went upstairs. He took every second step, so [he was] not a short person.’’
Hazelgrove couldn’t believe the person continued upstairs after she had spotted him.
‘‘I freaked out and then was like ‘this isn’t right’ so yelled out ‘oi, who is it?’ and woke everyone up, yelling ‘there’s someone in the house’.’’
At this point, the property’s seven residents began to rise, including Jasmin, who was terrified to learn the intruder had been where she slept.
The intruder bolted, leaving the hoverboard behind.
‘‘We could hear him running down the driveway, which was a relief he was out. He didn’t get away with anything.’’
But Hazelgrove’s adrenaline was pumping and she decided to try and find the culprit herself in her car, speaking to people she passed.
‘‘I was on the phone to 111 at the same time and she was like ‘maybe you should go home and stop hitting up random people on the street’.’’
The teenage girls were planning to sleep elsewhere last night but Hazelgrove was left wondering if the intruder would strike again.
‘‘I sleep with my stereo on all the time but I’ll be turning that off now so I can hear everything. It’s not easy being in the same areas you know he’s been in.’’
She had contacted her landlord to better secure the doors and has installed security cameras. ‘‘It’s not going to stop anyone from coming in though. It’s not going to help anyone sleep any better at night.’’
Sergeant Bruce Irvine confirmed the burglary had been reported and was now being investigated.
‘‘We could hear him running down the driveway which was a relief he was out. He didn’t get away with anything.’’
Judith Hazelgrove