Spontaneous Home Tour Ends at Gunpoint After Sonitrol Pacific Detection

Tacoma, WA, May 23, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Officers took a man into custody who had hoped to sneak a peek of a home he wanted to buy by crawling in through an unlocked window May 20. The home’s Sonitrol Pacific security system detected him inside the house and the monitoring operator sent authorities.

Late in the afternoon, Sonitrol Pacific Operator Robin Goings received an initial alarm signal from the house followed by live audio of a man’s voice and additional alarms. Knowing the house sat vacant, Goings called sheriff’s deputies. He also called the homeowner to let him know what was happening.

Officers arrived at the house in about ten minutes and confronted the intruder at gun point. The homeowner arrived a short time later and watched as deputies handcuffed the man and put him in a patrol car.

Upon questioning, the intruder told officers he was a local businessman who received a flier advertising the home for sale and decided to stop by on his way home from work to check it out. He was walking around the house peeking in through the windows when he discovered one unlocked. He opened it and crawled inside. His noise and movement activated the Sonitrol Pacific security system. The man was on a self-guided tour until deputies put an abrupt end to it.

The man convinced the officers he meant no harm and the homeowner didn’t want to press charges, and the man was released.

###