Cops Discover Man’s Hilarious Mistake After Responding to ‘Burglary in Progress’ Call
Officers from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office are enjoying a good laugh after they responded to a presumed burglary in progress inside a home near Portland, Oregon.
Two gentlemen reported that they were house-sitting for their adult nephew and left to take the dog on a walk.
They returned to hear disturbing noises coming from the locked bathroom — a rustling sound followed by loud, persistent banging.
It seemed a burglar had entered the home in broad daylight, prompting the men to quickly call 911.
A team of officers and a canine responded to the call, telling whoever was inside the bathroom to come out.
The suspect made no response, so police, with weapons drawn, burst inside the bathroom.
What they found left the officers laughing in relief after a tense few moments of uncertainty.
“As we entered the home we could hear rustling in the bathroom. We made several announcements and the ‘rustling’ became more frequent,” Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Rogers later wrote in his incident report.
“We breached the bathroom door and encountered a very thorough vacuuming job being done by a Roomba Robotic Vacuum cleaner.”
The Roomba vacuum had powered on and was cleaning the small bathroom floor, repeatedly slamming into the shower door as it moved about.
“There was just immediate laughter,” Sgt. Danny DiPietro, a spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, told The Washington Post.
“They didn’t know what was going to happen. They’re ready for anything and then it was like, ‘Whoa, what? What’s going on here? Am I being pranked?’”
The two men were deeply apologetic, saying they did not know their nephew even owned a Roomba. But police understood — it is better to be safe than sorry.
“They were definitely embarrassed, but our deputies told them, ‘Hey, we believed it was an intruder, too,’” DiPietro said. “These people were house sitting. They didn’t know this vacuum was going to kick on and go and do this — these people were in a unique circumstance.”
With all the stress that comes with police work, officers enjoy the chance to laugh every now and then.
“Every call is unique, and this was a fun one,” DiPietro said. “There are a lot of parts of our job that can be not the best. This is one that is going to stick in your mind for a long time for a good reason.”
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