‘I immediately started shaking violently’: Seattle homeowner tricks home invasion suspect
A Seattle homeowner experienced a terrifying moment after she became a victim of a scary home invasion.
On Wednesday, Kathryn E. said she was home alone taking a bath upstairs when she heard her dog growling.
She cracked the bathroom door and noticed a stranger on the first floor, she said.
“I immediately started shaking violently, but also believed my life was in immediate danger,” she wrote online.
Kathryn told the man she was going to her bedroom to get dressed and will be downstairs shortly when the man said he wanted to talk, she said.
When he heard her voice, the suspect allegedly rushed up the stairs and slammed the bedroom door loudly and aggressively, she added.
“As soon as he was past me, I ran out the bathroom door downstairs to my kitchen to run out of the house,” she wrote online.
Kathryn said she called 911 after she ran outside to her neighbor’s house and screamed for help.
Her neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told KIRO 7 News that she called 911 after the suspect tried breaking into her house, minutes before her neighbor’s home invasion.
“I heard footsteps running along the side of my house on the porch, and the next thing I heard was terrible pounding on my kitchen doors,” she said. “I was scared, and I would never answer the door when I’m home alone. I thought he was going to break the windows.”
“I can’t imagine the terror my neighbor felt,” she added. “I was so scared for her.”
Seattle police said they arrested the suspect after he was standing on the victim’s roof.
Detectives said the suspect, 46-year-old Sean Dell, is currently being held in the King County Jail for residential burglary and a warrant for property destruction.
Dell was experiencing a mental health crisis and was scared that people with guns were coming after him, police said.
“He was trying to barricade himself inside the house, especially when he knew the police were there. I think it could’ve turned out a long drawn-out situation,” Kent Wallner, the homeowner said. “Thank God my wife wasn’t in the house at the time as a hostage.”
Neighbors told us that the tight-knit neighborhood is often looking out for each other’s safety.
“Make sure you know your neighbors. Just don’t wave at them. Check in on them. I just think that’s probably the biggest thing is, neighbors are like family, and without family, we’re nothing,” he said.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office said it has not received the case from Seattle police as of Thursday.
