Criminals use new trick to get inside Utah homes

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

In Draper, a couple was disturbed late at night by a man at their door who was tied up with duct tape and screaming for help. The couple didn't open their door but called police. Before officers arrived, the man had run off.

The Draper City Police Department said this type of strategy was fairly common. Suspects put on an act to gain entry into a home and then commit a crime. And although officers said this happened frequently, they also said they'd never seen anything this dramatic.

Criminals use new trick to get inside Utah homes

Denise Russell said, "We heard a very loud knock on the door. It was about 10:30." A Friday night in August, Russell's husband went downstairs to check the door. Russell said, "He yelled and said, ‘You're not going to believe this. There's a man tied up on our front steps.' And I'm thinking what?"

The man was yelling for help, was bound with duct tape and was wearing a mask. She said she could see the man. She told her husband not to open the door, and she called 911. But by the time police arrived, he was gone.

Draper City police Sgt. Gerald Allred said, "This individual was amazingly able to get out of the duct tape and get out and run away. So our assumption is this is someone who wanted them to open the door. Who knows what for?

Russell said, "They might have wanted to steal something in our house, that's what I figure. Why else would somebody do that? They were trying to get us to open the door, easier access than breaking something.

Draper police didn't have any statistics, but said it happened frequently. Allred said, "This is probably one of the more dramatic types of scenarios we've seen somebody pull to try to get someone to open the door, but yeah, this does happen quite a bit."

And if you are ever in this type of situation, do what Russell did, dial 911. "If you're not comfortable opening the door then call the police, and let us deal with them," Allred said. Especially late at night, when officers say most of the strangers have something sinister in mind.

Draper police were never able to find the man who came to the Russell household; however, Russell told us she warned everyone in her neighborhood to be extra careful.

E-mail: ngonzales@ksl.com