SANTEE -- A person is creeping around a Santee neighborhood in the middle of the night trying to get inside homes while families are sleeping.
The Santee neighborhood near El Nopal is normally quiet.
Recently, homeowners like Jim and Tricia Miller, are on edge.
“Somebody is trying to enter doors,” Jim Miller said.
“Especially in the middle of the night,” Tricia Miller said.
The first victim was their disabled neighbor, who can’t get out of her bed without help.
“From what I know, he tried to actually force his way into one of the front windows that had a latch and they could actually tell that it was forced open,” Jim Miller said.
That woman told 10News she slept through the attempted break-in.
“Then, a few days later, they attempted at our neighbor across the street's house. Same thing - tried to open the front door,” Tricia Miller said.
The homeowner turned on the lights and the creeper took off, the Millers said.
“Then, last Friday, they came to our house at two in the morning.
A child heard the handle jiggle and got an adult.
“[The adult] came and turned on the lights and they saw somebody running away, they saw a shadow of somebody exiting,” Tricia Miller said.
“We’re kind of on alert,” Jim Miller said.
“It’s a little nerve wracking,” Tricia Miller said.
The couple shared their incident on social media, including the East County Emergency Updates Facebook page.
10News spoke with a captain for the San Diego Sheriff’s Department about the incidents. He said deputies will patrol the neighborhood.
