A man was taken into custody Tuesday on suspicion of breaking into USC students’ home in Exposition Park.
The man was put in handcuffs and detained by officials from USC’s Department of Public Safety before being transported to the LAPD station.
Police had said a man broke into a house near USC on Menlo Avenue shortly after midnight while female students were inside the home.
The students who live in the home said they feel much safer, knowing the man who may have broken into their home was detained.
“Oh god. Yeah, that’s him, said Molly Bolland, a USC student, while watching the video of the man being taken into custody.
The man was heard telling officers that he was homeless.
“When he said he only had soda on him – I feel bad,” said Bolland, who lives with 11 other girls in the house. “I do have sympathy for him. He seems troubled. He doesn’t seem like he knows what he’s doing.”
Bolland said the man in a black shirt, red shorts and sandals went into their kitchen where a roommate was studying overnight for midterms.
The USC student said she and her roommates have seen the man before and reported him for allegedly looking into their windows.
“We have two previous calls on Oct. 5 with what we believe is the same individual from this household,” Chief Lauretta Hill with USC’s Department of Public Safety said. “ It was just an unhoused activity. No crime at that time. We made contact with that individual in this area so we know he’s unhoused. When we have someone that’s unhoused, we do offer them services.”
Chief Hills confirms video shared by Bolland and her roommates shows the same man walking around the home just three minutes before the students’ panicked call to the LAPD.