”Just Leave”: D.C. Man Talks Burglars Out of His Apartment

 A D.C. man was able to talk two burglars out of his Northwest apartment, but just when he thought it was safe, they came back. 

The man, who did not want to be identified, said he was asleep in his Columbia Heights apartment when he heard someone pulling out a kitchen knife. It was 4 a.m. and dark, and he knew he wasn't alone. 

"That's not a noise you normally hear while you're sleeping," he said. 

Peeking out from his bedroom, he saw someone trying to unplug his computer while another person carried his television. 

"The only thing running through my mind was, 'How do I get out of this?,'" he recalled. 

So he did the only thing that he could think of: ask them to leave. 

"I said, 'I know you're here. Just get out,'" he said. "'Take whatever you want. Just leave.'"

And they did. The victim locked the door, but seconds later, the burglars were back to ask for a bag they left behind. 

"I opened the door, threw it out and they left," the man said. 

An off-duty officer at a nearby Giant grocery store noticed something suspicious and called it in. Police captured one of the suspect and recovered the man's TV. 

"The police and investigators were so incredibly helpful," the man told News4. "And in a time when seeing so many negative stories, this really stood out."

The man admits that he should have hidden himself somewhere in his bedroom, but he says he reacted in the moment. 

Contact Us