One couple awoke to find a stranger in their bedroom, rummaging through the nightstand. Another man heard a noise, peered out his window, and a saw a male standing on his roof and looking back at him.

St. Paul police are investigating seven burglaries or attempted burglaries that happened throughout the day on Saturday in the Prosperity Heights and Hayden Heights neighborhoods. In each of the cases, people were inside their homes when the burglaries occurred or confronted a suspect in their yard.

“People are supposed to be their safest in their homes,” said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman. “It’s alarming that we have people breaking into occupied houses, burglarizing them and even being so bold as to walk into bedrooms where people are sleeping. It’s unnerving. Our goal is to find the suspect or suspects, hold them accountable and make sure that people can feel safe and secure in their homes when they go to bed at night.”

Four of the burglaries happened on East Maryland Avenue, between Kennard and Van Dyke streets.

Two more happened off Flandrau Street, on Orange and Hyacinth avenues.

Another was on Hyacinth Avenue, in the area of Hazel Street.

They occurred Saturday from 4:15 a.m. to 11:10 p.m.

In the first case of the morning, police believe the suspect used a garbage can to boost himself up to an open window and enter the house. The couple woke up to a male in their bedroom and chased him out of the house. He got away with a debit card.

In another case, a woman reported about 9:20 a.m. that she had been sleeping upstairs and her husband was in the backyard with their children. He came inside and asked if she had packed the television away because it was missing. Then, they realized it had been stolen, Ernster said.

Three more burglary or attempted burglaries happened Saturday evening.

After a suspect went into the porch and a garage of a home, the homeowner saw the suspect on the roof of his garage. The male fled. Officers set up a perimeter, police used a K-9 to try to track him, and they requested the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter to help search for him, but he was not found, Ernster said.

Police are working to determine whether one or multiple suspects were involved in the burglaries, Ernster said.

In each of the cases when a suspect was seen, he was described as a black male.

The suspect or suspects were seen wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and sometimes gloves.

In one case he was described as appearing to be 16-years-old, 5 feet 6 inches tall and skinny. In another case, a suspect was described as 6 feet tall with a medium build. Someone else described a suspect as 17 to 22-years-old; another man said he was in his 20s.

Police ask anyone with information to call them at 651-291-1111.

The police department also requests that anyone who lives in the area and has home surveillance systems check to see if it captured anything to help police identify the suspect or suspects.

Elsewhere in St. Paul, in the Summit Hill, Macalester-Groveland and Highland Park neighborhoods, police have been investigating about seven burglaries of occupied homes that occurred between Aug. 14 and Sept. 4, Ernster said.

To help safeguard against burglary, Ernster said people should make sure to keep their doors and windows locked; their properties well-lit at night; get to know their neighbors to share information about what they’re seeing; and call police any time they see suspicious activity.