San Jose woman buys gun after security system didn't stop burglar

Byby Elissa Harrington KGO logo
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Brazen San Jose burglar caught on home surveillance cameras
A San Jose woman has bought a gun after her home security system wasn't enough to stop a brazen burglar.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Homeowners in San Jose's Santa Teresa neighborhood are keeping a close eye out after a robber broke into a San Jose woman's home despite her elaborate security system.

The brazen burglar was captured on a series of home surveillance cameras but some wonder if that's enough.

He ignored a burglar alarm and visible security cameras while the terrified homeowner hid in a closet for 13 minutes listening to him ransack her place.

It's been two days since the terrifying home invasion at Heidi Quezada's home.

"I feel like I just started breathing again yesterday," said Quezada.

Despite having 16 surveillance cameras, she has has since put in new locks and bought a gun to protect herself. But she can't shake knowing the person who so brazenly burst into her home in the middle of the night is still out there.

On Tuesday just before 2 a.m. her security phone app showed a man outside her bedroom window. Quezada called 911 and locked herself in the closet.

"I was petrified. When I first saw him on my phone I then had to use my phone to call 911 and I could no longer see," said Quezada.

But she could hear as the burglar busted open the lock on the sliding glass door then went room to room opening drawers and flipping mattresses.

When he tried the locked door to Quezada's room she screamed. He then ran through a neighbor's yard to grab a skateboard. Neighbor Mike Donahue thinks it might have been his yard.

"I'm kind of shocked because the amount of people that are home all the time. And the security that we have on this court," said Donahue.

Donahue's security is his three dogs. He's lived on the street more than 20 years and has never heard of such a brazen act.

"All this time I thought I was safe because I locked my doors, I set my alarm, have my cameras. But it was like sleeping with the doors wide open," said Quezada.

Heidi says she does not recognize the burglar but she wants his face out there and hopes someone knows who it is.

Surveillance cameras around a San Jose home capture a brazen burglar on March 7, 2015 as he enters a home while a woman was home alone. (KGO-TV)

Police are not commenting on the investigation yet or why it took 13 minutes to respond to the home.