Police Seeing Dramatic Increase In Door-Smashing Home Burglaries In Ventura County

THOUSAND OAKS (CBSLA.com) — Police said they are seeing a dramatic increase in door-smashing home burglaries in Ventura County.

Cathy, who did not want to reveal her full name, said she wanted to share what happened to her around 9 a.m. Tuesday at her Thousand Oaks home.

She heard a hard knock at the door. She didn't answer. Soon after, she heard a loud noise in her living room.

"As I came around the corner into the living room, the man was behind the curtain, coming in this way. So, I just started yelling," she recalled.

The man apparently had gone around her house into her back yard and shattered her locked sliding glass door.

As he was coming inside, Cathy said: "I was swearing at him, and I was saying: 'I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you.' That's when he was going."

Thankfully, the intruder got spooked and took off running.

Thousands Oaks police said this break-in is the latest in a string of them over the last few months in Thousand Oaks and other parts of Ventura County.

"What makes this interesting is the fact that they're now entering the backside, jumping over a fence and breaking the windows. The last ones we've seen they're sliding glass doors," said detective Tim Lohman of the Thousand Oaks Police Department.

As police see more of these break-ins, they suggested that homeowners have a clear film put on their glass doors to protect them from breakage as shown in the video below:

As for Cathy, she has this message to the man she confronted: "Just don't try back here again because you're not going to make it away alive."