A man is being sought after he broke into a Santa Monica home and made his way into an upstairs bedroom, struggling with a grandmother before fleeing, family members and police said Friday.
The incident occurred just before 5 a.m. Thursday, only hours after a prowler had triggered a burglar alarm and fled another home only a few blocks away in Santa Monica's affluent Gillette Regent Square neighborhood.
Similarities in the incidents and suspect description have raised suspicion it may have been the same prowler, but Santa Monica police cannot yet say for sure.
"I can't believe I held him off," said Bernice Tesreau, 88, who was staying over with her daughter's family on 18th Street.
Tesreau was asleep in the bedroom at the head of the stairs when she heard a noise and became aware of a man standing over her, she said.
"I said, 'who are you?' and he said 'shut up' and put his hands over my mouth," Tesreau recalled during an interview with NBC4 as her daughter Krista Strauss stood with her.
Tesreau struggled, kicking her legs and flailing her arms, determined to get his hands off her mouth, and then screaming as loud as she could.
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The commotion awakened Strauss down the hallway in the master bedroom. With her husband out of town on a business trip, Strauss came running and spotted the intruder outside her mother's room.
"She was still screaming from her room, and I, along with her, started screaming at the top of my lungs," said Strauss, who recalls the man saying "OK" before disappearing down the stairwell.
"I truly believe my mom stopped him dead in his tracks," Strauss said. "She's my hero."
Uncertain whether the man had left the house, Tesreau, Strauss, and her two school-age children locked themselves inside a closet until police arrived and determined the man was gone. Police determined the man had entered through a den door that was not locked.
Hours earlier, just before 2 a.m., Cindy Teitelbaum and her husband were awakened by a burglar alarm chime that indicated an exterior door had been opened. They looked out their bedroom window and saw a man with a flashlight entering the guesthouse through an unlocked door, she said. Moments later, the man disappeared.
The recently-built Teitelbaum house on 16th Street has extensive security measures, including cameras watching the front and back, but they caught no glimpse of the intruder, she said.
They surmise he may have scaled an eight foot wall that separates their property from a neighboring lot that is unoccupied while under construction.
Perhaps most disturbing to the Teitelbaums is that the chime was their only indication of the intruder.
Even with their bedroom window open, and a mother's attentive ears, Cindy Teitelbaum said she heard nothing before the chime.
"He was very silent," she said. "This is disturbing to me."
Police asked the public "to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior," and encouraged residents to keep windows and doors locked.
Both Strauss and Teitelbaum spoke of the close bonds between neighbors, and said the community has learned a lesson about leaving doors unlocked at night.
"We are a strong village here," said Teitelbaum. "People should know we are vigilant.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Ahn at 310-458-8452 or Sergeant Federico at (310) 458-8939. Residents can also report any suspicious activity to the Santa Monica Police Communications Center at 310- 458-8491.
