Constant break-in attempts leave homeowner rattled

Waking up suddenly in the middle of the night to the sound of someone banging and kicking on the front door can be frightening.

That experience goes to the next level when it happens every weekend.

Since mid-May, someone has tried breaking into Denise Mcintosh's home seven times -- that's in just the past six weeks.

"It's hair raising, and your heart comes up in your throat. And the alarms are going off. And your husband is scampering to see if he can catch an image or see anything. By the time the police come, they're gone," Mcintosh said.

The first happened May 17 around 2 a.m.

The sheriff's office arrived shortly after and found nothing, according to Mcintosh.

A couple days later, the family was, again, woken up by someone kicking on the front door.

"It's a horrible thing to go through. I wouldn't want to see anyone go through this," Mcintosh continued.

She can't figure out why someone wants to get in or what they may want.

After several of those frightening experiences, they installed a motion activated surveillance camera and enhanced their security system inside.

Early Thursday morning, there were startled out of bed again by the sound of a foot smashing into the door knob.

But this time, their new camera captured an image of a man wearing his shirt around his face. In the picture, it appears he is signaling to another person standing in the driveway.

Again, they didn't get in.

"This is a sign of a potential, very dangerous, deadly situation," Mcintosh said.

As it has become routine, the sheriff's office arrived again, looked through the house, the surrounding streets and the neighborhood and found nothing, says Mcintosh.

Whomever keeps trying to get in has been unsuccessful each time, but Mcintosh is scared about what could happen if they do break the door down.

She's furious with the homeowner association and the sheriff's office for the lack of patrols and thinks law enforcement should be proactive instead of reactive.

"It seems ridiculous to me that they're going to wait until something escalates to the point of no return," she said about the sheriff's office.

Since the beginning of May, there have been several calls for service throughout her neighborhood. Some of those calls include burglary, theft and criminal mischief.

The sheriff's office has gone out to her home each time and they say they are investigating.