Technology tips off Oak Cliff homeowner to break-in
Technology tipped off an Oak Cliff homeowner that somebody broke into his home.
Nate Gasser was alarmed to see someone inside his home while he was away and watched on his phone as a man with a gun began to disable the cameras inside his home.
"I just kinda freak out because I see a hand disconnecting the camera,” Gasser said.
The suspect had to scale an 8-foot fence to get in the yard, then watched him get past an alarm, cameras, and dogs. But the quick response from Dallas police made all the difference
"While I'm talking to 911 I'm seeing the cameras inside the house get disconnected. Like one, by one, by one,” Gasser said. “And I'm like holy crap he's in the house."
Southwest Dallas Patrol Chief Albert Martinez said this could have ended badly.
“He was armed and this could have been a deadly force confrontation,” Martinez said.
Officers said they caught Zermerion Sykes, 17, inside the home with a gun.
"I'm extremely proud of the officers and we have a great response on these calls but really the biggest accolade goes to our home owner, our citizen, who was very proactive,” said Martinez. “Obviously, made a big investment to protect his home, the dogs and the alarm and the sophisticated camera system and he took the time, calmly told us what was going on and we responded."
Gasser said seeing a man in his house with a gun was frightening.
"That's some scary stuff, honestly. That's terrifying and I'm just really, really, thankful that the DPD was ok and you know, it could have gone really south and it didn't,” Gasser said. “And I'm really thankful for that.”
Workers are replacing the back door the burglar kicked-in before he ransacked Gasser's home.
Dallas county records show say Sykes was arrested in July for burglary. He is charged with burglary again this time, but it is not clear if he will be charged with having a weapon.