Residents of a gated Hollywood Hills house could not believe it happened again, another intruder prowling inside Wednesday night, just two days after another man had entered an occupied bedroom of the home on Outpost Drive.
"You don't know what their intentions are. That's what's so scary," said the homeowner, who identified herself as Lynne.
She was upstairs Monday morning when her guests downstairs awoke to a man in their room.
"You could not see him, it was that dark," said the resident who identified himself as Jordan. "But you definitely heard the mumbling, and him going back and forth, and the footsteps."
Jordan and girlfriend Zoah were not sure if the man saw them, and they remained quiet as he continued mumbling to himself. He then went out the outside door they had left ajar for ventilation, and apparently tripped, falling into the swimming pool, they said. As they locked the door and called police, he pulled himself out, and was lying on the deck when officers arrived.
"He didn't seem to know where he was or whose house he was at," Zoah said.
Police told the residents they man appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamines.
The home is in Outpost Estates, a classic old Hollywood neighborhood that dates to the 1920s and remains a magnet for celebrities, despite its proximity to a stretch of hotels and motels and other businesses on busy Franklin Avenue.
Wednesday night, when Jordan was home alone, he noticed someone trying the doorknob. Thinking it was Lynne, he called out to her, then heard footsteps running down the hallway. The intruder got out of the house without being seen.
Later, outside, after police arrived, Jason and Zoah saw a stranger — not the Monday intruder — suddenly cross Outpost Drive toward the gated estate of Kat Von D, the famed tattoo artist and reality TV star. They yelled when he went through the gate, and moments later he left, heading south toward Franklin Avenue, passing through a hotel property before police caught up and arrested him.
Von D and her husband said they were not aware of the intruder at the time and he did not get into their home.
He was known to police as a heroin addict, the residents were told. Like the Monday suspect, he was cited for misdemeanor trespassing and released.
A more serious count of felony burglary requires evidence of criminal intent, an LAPD Hollywood detective explained.
Lynne suspects both intruders may have entered her property through the driveway gate that did not seal completely, and appeared Monday to have been pushed back.
Thursday, as a crew was repairing the gate, she said she is making other safety improvements around the property, including updating security cameras.
She also spoke of getting firearms training.
"I have to protect my family," she said.
