DENVER — Residents in several neighborhoods are on edge after reports of a man attempting to break into homes, and the Denver Police Department confirmed he may connected to other crimes.
Adrian Lockhart and his wife had their own close encounter with the man Tuesday afternoon after opening the windows of their house to let the cool air in.
"As I'm opening the barn door from our room, I look up and there's a man trying to get into our house," Lockhart said Wednesday.
The man, who was captured on a neighbor's surveillance camera running away just moments after, had climbed into Lockhart's backyard on East 12th Avenue and Roslyn Street in Denver's East Colfax neighborhood. He damaged and removed a window screen and then attempted to climb through the kitchen window.
"My initial reaction is to get loud, be big," Lockhart said. "We have a knife right here around the corner here in the kitchen, and I just grabbed that out of instinct and went to the door. And by the time I got outside, he had cleared the fence and went to the neighbor."
He and his wife would later learn that same man was suspected of breaking into a home in Central Park days prior. Neighbors there say the homeowner wrestled with him on the living room floor while waiting for police to arrive.
"It's kind of violating," Lockhart said. "You feel vulnerable, especially thinking, "What if I wasn't here and my wife was in the room and didn't hear it, and now she's confronted with an intruder midday?""
Denver police say the man is connected to possibly four different burglaries. They have yet to arrest him.
"There's a high level of desperation, whatever his situation is, to push to do that during the day," Lockhart said.
Because of that man's actions, Lockhart and his wife are now reconsidering whether to open their windows again on a beautiful day.
"I think it's gonna take a little bit of time for her and I to adjust to the reality that we just have to be more aware," he said.
Denver PD is still working to track the man down. Based on several surveillance videos shared with Denver7, he appears to be wearing what look like purple shorts. If you have any information about who he is or where he may be, give Metro Denver Crime Stoppers a call at 720-913-7867.