A man broke into a home being rented by about a dozen female USC students a few blocks from the campus early Tuesday, and some of the residents said the suspect has approached the home repeatedly but remained at large.
Students said the man broke into the house in the 2700 block of Menlo Avenue shortly after midnight, entering through a kitchen window or side door.
According to the students, the man has been spotted around the home before, sometimes peeking in the windows. They showed reporters Ring camera footage of the man at the front door on Saturday. They said they contacted the campus Department of Public Safety, but the man was never detained, so they called the Los Angeles Police Department in response to Tuesday’s break-in.
“It makes zero sense that somebody can enter your home and then continue coming back to harass a group of 12 girls and face no repercussions,” Molly Boland, a student who lives in the home, told ABC7.
She added, “”At this point, I don’t have a doubt that he would come back and hurt us.”
KTLA5 reported around midday that a person had been detained in the area, but it was unclear if it was the break-in suspect.
USC DPS Chief Lauretta Hill told the station that the students are urged to continue calling authorities if the man returns so he can be tracked down.
“The sooner they call us the quicker we can get on site,” Hill said. “We can contact this individual and investigate whatever crime that we may have at that time.”
DPS officials told the station that they have responded to the home three times previously about the suspect lingering in the area.