HONOLULU (AP) — For the second time in eight months, a teenage girl in Waimanalo awoke to find a strange man asleep in her home. ADVERTISING HONOLULU (AP) — For the second time in eight months, a teenage girl in
HONOLULU (AP) — For the second time in eight months, a teenage girl in Waimanalo awoke to find a strange man asleep in her home.
In May, the girl spotted a man she didn’t recognize on the second bed in her bedroom. On Saturday, she stepped into the living room to see another stranger asleep on the couch.
“I don’t understand why it keeps happening to me and my family,” said Donald Crummer, the girl’s father.
Crummer was at work Saturday morning when he received a call from police.
He said his daughter woke up at 9:30, walked into the front room and saw the man, grabbed a stick used in martial arts and barricaded herself in the bedroom, then called 911.
The case in May made headlines because it took four 911 calls and 45 minutes for an officer to arrive at their doorstep. Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha last month apologized for the delayed response and promised an internal investigation.
Crummer’s daughter didn’t have to wait long for an officer this time. An officer arrived in three minutes, he said.
Crummer doesn’t know how the suspect got inside his home. There were no signs of a break-in.
“I’m a general contractor. I’m obviously going to secure my home better. I’m going to build a sliding, rolling gate in front of my house. I’m going to put my dogs in the front yard from now on,” he said.
His daughter is trained in martial arts, he said, but he realized the outcome could have been different.
“She’s kind of laughing at the dumb luck of it all. And thank God we can laugh at it. Thank God that nothing has happened to this point,” Crummer said.
John Fritz pleaded no contest to unauthorized entry in the first case and will be sentenced next month.
Police on Saturday took a 21-year-old man into custody. He was not immediately charged.
