Boy's 'terrifying nightmare' snares teen intruder
A little boy's terrifying nightmare about a stranger lurking outside his bedroom window proved not to be a bad dream at all.
When Melissa Rodrigues's three-year-old son had a recurring dream about a man shinning a light into his room, she was understandably distressed.
"At 5.30 in the morning he let out an absolutely gut-wrenching scream from his room," Ms Rodrigues said.
"I knew something wasn't right."
As Melissa and her husband searched for an intruder, they discovered footprints leading from their son's bedroom to the front gate of their home in Waikanae, New Zealand.
They immediately called police, who advised them to set up a surveillance camera to catch the culprit in the act.
The next night the couple sent their son to his grandma's home and rigged up a security device in their garage.
The technology captures images from a smartphone camera and sends them directly to the owner’s email.
Around 4.40am, while Melissa and her husband hid in their lounge room, an unknown man appeared on camera leaning over the family’s front porch.
"It gave me the shock of a lifetime because, even though I was waiting for it, I wasn't expecting to see him," Ms Rodrigues said.
"We were sitting in the house watching it all through the app. It was brilliant."
Police later found a 15-year-old boy in the area.
Senior Sergeant Anita Dixon said the teenager had been referred to youth aid for stealing cigarette butts.
"This incident was able to be sorted out very quickly, thanks to the excellent information supplied by the family, and the police working quickly, together with the help of the mobile phone app,” she said.
Morning news break - July 2
