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WEST VALLEY CITY — A strange intruder walked into a West Valley apartment in the middle of the day Tuesday and made himself right at home.
A babysitter and children were there, but the children's father was out. He now worries it could happen again at their apartment complex because police did not take the intruder to jail.
Some of the things going on around here have made me change my mind. I might just get a gun.
–William Davis, West Valley resident
"It really scared my youngest," said William Davis. "Some of the things going on around here have made me change my mind. I might just get a gun."
Davis was at a job interview Tuesday, while his three young kids were at home with a baby sitter and her daughter. Around noon, the baby sitter, Phyllis Murray, was in the kitchen and heard the front door open.
"So, I said, 'Hey, what's up?'" Murray recalled.
She heard no answer. When she looked from the kitchen, she saw a large man by the door and thought he must be drunk and lost.
He was just staring at me; and about that time I tried not to panic, but I got a little freaked out.
–Phyllis Murray, babysitter
"His eyes were like this, big," Murray said, making large rings around her eyes. "He was just staring at me; and about that time I tried not to panic, but I got a little freaked out."
Then the intruder went to the living room.
"He sat down, grabbed a banana, started to eat the banana," Murray said.
She sent the kids to their room, asked the maintenance man to watch them and got a neighbor who called police.
"He was acting erratic," said Keri Keaton, who lives in a downstairs apartment. "His eyes were very maniacal."
By the time police arrived, the man was checking other doors. Instead of arresting him, officers took him to the hospital.
By the time Davis got home from his job interview, the intruder and the police were gone. He says he was stunned with the resolution.
"He walked right into my house. How is it no charges will be filed?" Davis asked.
Police told Davis, and KSL News, the intruder did not actually trespass because no one asked him to leave.
Just taking somebody to jail, especially when they're in a circumstance ... where they are completely disoriented, sometimes doesn't solve a problem.
–Sgt. Mike Powell, WVC Police
"However, he did steal a banana," Davis said with a chuckle. So, he did commit a crime.
Bottom line: West Valley police say the officers made a judgment call that a medical check was more important than a trip to jail.
"Just taking somebody to jail, especially when they're in a circumstance ... where they are completely disoriented, sometimes doesn't solve a problem," said West Valley Police Sgt. Mike Powell.
After a mental health evaluation, the man was released to his family in South Bountiful.
Davis says he hopes the intruder gets the care he needs, but he also thinks there should have been some criminal report. In the future, he says they'll take extra precautions at his home.
"Now, we'll be locking the door every single day," said Murray, "because that was a scary experience."
Email: jboal@ksl.com
