Homeowner calls 911 on suspected burglar that turned out to be vacuum
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At least their house was clean.
A North Carolina homeowner called police claiming an intruder was inside his house in the middle of the night, a published report said.
The red-faced homeowners were a bit hasty in their assessment, however, when the suspected burglar turned out to be a rogue robot vacuum cleaner, USA Today reported.
‘BURGLARY SUSPECT’ TRIGGERING EMERGENCY CALL WAS ROOMBA TRAPPED IN BATHROOM, COPS SAY
During the holidays, Thomas Milam and his wife Elisa reported that they were watching a movie just after midnight when they heard noises coming from downstairs in their home, the newspaper reported.
«We both were alarmed, we paused the movie and I had Elisa go to a safe place. I immediately grabbed my gun, went to Elisa and we stayed there silently waiting to see if we heard more noises. Someone was definitely downstairs rummaging through things, and it sounded close to us.»
— Homeowner Thomas Milam, via the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office
While Milam told his wife to call 911, he pointed his gun at the bedroom door. He was set on protecting his wife and their 2-year-old daughter who was sleeping soundly one bedroom over.
«All my military training came back to me, I started analyzing the path the intruder would take, their line of fire if they entered the room in certain ways, and where we should be to decrease our risk of getting hurt,» he said.
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Within a minute, authorities arrived and searched the home, while the dispatcher on the phone told Milam to lower his gun. The homeowner opened the bedroom door to find police flashlights shining in his direction USA Today reported.
«Sir, I have one question,» the lead officer said. «Is this Roomba yours?»
Apparently, unbeknownst to the couple, their new robot vacuum cleaner turned on in the middle of the night. Milam said no one set it to do that. The Roomba apparently got stuck near the bottom of the staircase and was repeatedly bumping into a wall, Milam said.
«Merry Christmas everyone, please remember to turn off your burglar robot vacuums!» Milam posted on Facebook.
The embarrassing ordeal isn’t the first time a homeowner has contacted police after being spooked by what turned out to be an automated floor cleaner.
In April, a similar incident occurred in Oregon after a woman reported someone was locked inside her bathroom. She reported seeing a shadow under the door and heard noises. Authorities entered the bathroom 15 minutes later with their guns drawn.
«We breached the bathroom door and encountered a very thorough vacuuming job being done by a Roomba Robotic Vacuum cleaner,» Washington County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook.
