Home invasion

This man was a stranger to thd family who kicked in the back door which was locked with a dead bolt.
Did he have information that she was alone? Who knows. Can't imagine he won't be caught very soon

How do you know he was a stranger cubby?

“There was no sort of conversation about, ‘Give him some things,’ which I would’ve done,” she said.

Even more frighteningly investigators do not think the man targeted the home.

j_r said:

The family, who are neighbors, have released an unedited version of that video. It is terrifying. Imagine being in your house in the middle of the block, with the doors locked, at 10:30 in the morning, and having this happen.

@jr, please let them know people are thinking of them and so sorry for what they had to endure. I can't even imagine. Not even in my wildest imagination.

I think he was amped on drugs - the speed and ferocity of the attack, and the pacing back and forth.

NBC states the following "Police consider the man armed and dangerous, and detectives believe he has committed similar crimes in the past. Authorities say he may have chosen the Cypress Street home because he believed it was empty; the shades were drawn and no car was in the driveway."


With that said, does that mean they believe they know who this man is?

More likely they have seen his M.O.

This is terrifying. Someone tried twice to break into our house on Bowdoin St. between the hours of 11 pm and 6 am while we were clearly home. I can only assume they were willing to do to us the same thing this guy did to this poor woman in this video. Although an alternative theory, as someone suggested on Millburn Patch, is that this guy was hired to "send a message" to this family because there was a similar crime 5 years ago where someone was hired to send a message to the husband of a wife who was beaten in their home with children home. Does anyone know if this is something that criminals do and could he have gotten the wrong house?

Boomie: police report he was not known to the family. Wonder if this is the same guy who did this in Livingston last year

debby said:

I think he was amped on drugs - the speed and ferocity of the attack, and the pacing back and forth.

I can only speak from watching COPs, but I agree with this. I bet if cops had shown up, it would have taken 4-5 officers using pepper spray, tasers and batons to subdue him.

Exactly. He seemed impervious to pain.

I hope the fact that he is left-handed makes the ID even easier.

Seems strange I wonder what her husband is into. There is a reason why this doesn't happen in neighborhoods like that. Kicking in the locked door of a house with obvious security signs outside. Then after you knock her out dragging her and throwing her down the stairs. Then only taking a wedding ring or other jewelry. Almost like someone was sending a message.

How far is the location of the incident from a train stop ?

Does anyone know how long this poor woman had to wait for help? Assuming no neighbors were aware of the attack so did the victim end up calling the police herself after he left? Sounds like the victim had a concussion so was she knocked out for awhile? The whole thing is simply terrifying. At least he didn't touch her children. Can't believe Township Emergency Office didn't do a reverse 911 call alerting the whole community to be extra vigilant and on the lookout for this guy!!!!!! Seems like last summer there was a rash of unlocked cars burgled daily; hope this scenario does not turn into a repeat occurrence this summer.

mwr said:

How far is the location of the incident from a train stop ?

Not very close but the Maplewood Loop bus stop is right down the street.

I live close to Cypress St, but in Maplewood. Our neighbors had a home invasion about 2 weeks ago in similar fashion - middle of day during the work week, came in through a back door/window. Thankfully no one was home. Starting to think this might be related. They have to catch this monster.

mwr said:

How far is the location of the incident from a train stop ?

It's under a mile, about a 12-minute walk, to the Maplewood station.

Isnt this @bikefixed's neighborhood?

boomie said:

Isnt this @bikefixed's neighborhood?

No, it's the Wyoming neighborhood, rather than South Mountain, if I'm right about which house is his.

A Mom home alone with kids during a weekday, no dog and valuables in the home (jewelry) isn't exactly a unique situation. I don't think it meant he knew her. I am more inclined to believe this was more of a druggie-gone-bad kind of crime. Although chilling, the video will help police find this guy pretty quickly so I am glad for it.

@conandrob240, I think that's why a lot of us jump to "he must know her" - exactly because it's not a unique situation. Otherwise, why that house? What that family? Of course it could be completely random but it seems so personal.

My neighbors once had a badly tripping man break into their home through the sliders. The police told them not to stay fearful because the guy, in that state, would never have any idea where he had been.

I was referring to an earlier post that suggested because he knew she was home alone with kids , no dog and "valuables, he must have known her. I meant that I don't think it would be much of a streatch to find those characteristics- every 3rd door probably meets that criteria. I don't doubt he scoped it out a bit but it doesn't feel "personal" to me- meaning not a vendetta. Maybe I am completely wrong. Feels like a drug rage.

TarheelsInNj said:

@conandrob240, I think that's why a lot of us jump to "he must know her" - exactly because it's not a unique situation. Otherwise, why that house? What that family? Of course it could be completely random but it seems so personal.

A friend was the victim of a very similar crime many years ago (in Kansas City). There was no connection to the victim at all. The perpetrator was psychotic on drugs (remember angel dust?)...........completely brazen, fearless and extremely violent. She managed to call 911 while he was breaking down the front door, so she was rescued [though not unharmed in the chaos that followed].

Sometimes when I am alone at night, I walk around with the phone in my hand for just this reason.

We just moved out of the area, this is horrifying to know that we lived just around the corner. Hope the family pulls thru I'm sure the community is already finding ways to help

I'm not sure why people are assuming the victim knew the attacker and frankly, I think it's inappropriate. The family released the video to the police so the public could help identify the attacker.

No one wants to think these things can be random but they are. When our neighbor was murdered the police assured us it wasn't random and people seemed comforted by that but it turned out it was completely random (see Bettina's comments).

There was a home invasion in West Essex a few years back that ended with the homeowner being murdered. If I recall correctly the perpetrator was related to someone who worked for the couple, and that is how he got his information about the residence and the valuables in the home.

A friend of mine lost her uncle to a home invasion that also ended with the homeowner (her uncle) being murdered. In that case it was totally random and a crime of opportunity that went horrible wrong when he accidentally walked in on the burglar.

Both scenarios can and do happen.

People want to believe it wasn't random because its comforting to think there was a reason this happened. Randomness is terrifying.

People want to believe the guy was on drugs because they want to believe that craven savages who beat women within an inch of their lives in front of their children don't exist. Surely it must be drugs.

It makes no sense to over react to this incident but it makes even less sense to try to rationalize it away.

By " knew" the attacker, I think people mean it wasn't random. Like the attacker knew of the family and targeted them for a reason ( for example, husband bought drugs, had. Gambling debt, etc). I don't they literally mean " knew" as in personally knew who he was.

I think it was drug related because of the description of circumstances. Not because I am trying to rationalize anything. Violent rage like that against a stranger is a symptom of certain types of highs.

And the location of the crime would give me no pause at all unless this became more common in a particular area. This could happen at any time, anywhere. It is a pattern of crime, escalating crime, lack of police response, crime levels disproportionate to neighboring towns, and so on that would give me any kind of pause about a particular location.