SEATTLE -- Police on Thursday arrested a man suspected of breaking into a West Seattle home in the middle of the night while occupants were asleep.



There have been a series of bizarre home invasions in West Seattle where a man has entered homes in the middle of the night and has been found sitting or standing in or near the occupied bedrooms when homeowners awoke. He would then flee.



"Police have arrested one person after the victim in one of the break-ins recognized the suspect on the street and called 911," the Seattle Police Department said on its online blotter. "Officers took the person into custody and turned them over to detectives.



"Detectives have not yet linked the suspect to all of the cases, but continue to investigate," SPD said.



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SEATTLE -- Seattle police are looking for a man who gained entry into three homes last week in the middle of the night while the homeowners were inside.



Detectives are attempting to identify and locate the man after receiving several similar reports in the same West Seattle neighborhood last week. The description and behavior of the suspect all seem consistent in the reported incidents.



“I haven’t slept. I haven’t been sleeping at all,” said one of the victims who did not want her identity revealed.



This woman says she woke up last Sunday around 2:30 a.m. to a man in her bedroom.



“I saw a man on all fours looking up at me. I screamed and he proceeded to jump on my bed. I thought he was going to rape me, I thought he was going to physically harm me,” said the victim.



She says he covered her mouth and attacked her.



“He basically held my neck, licked my face and (was) kissing me and telling me that he needs love, too. From there, I screamed again and that’s when he put a rag in my mouth to shut me up,” said the victim.



She says she managed to scream again and woke up her mother, who was sleeping in another bedroom. She came to check on her and startled the suspect.



“He sat on the edge of my bed and then apologized for his actions and said people had put him up to this,” said the victim.



She described him as a black man in his 20s.



“He was probably about 6’2, very broad-shouldered, at least 220 pounds,” said the victim.



She says she gave him a couple hundred dollars and he walked out of her house.



Neighbors living in this neighborhood are on edge.



“The concerning thing is this level of violence I hadn’t seen before,” said Joan Willemain, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years.



Willemain says she woke up to police lights last weekend as Seattle police responded to three burglaries where a man was inside homes on 11th, 12th and 13th avenues southwest early in the morning on June 17 and 19.



Police also responded to burglaries where the suspect was inside the house in the early morning hours of June 17th and 19th. The incidents occurred in the 9000 block of 11th Avenue SW, the 9200 block of 12th Avenue SW, and the 9400 block of 13th Avenue SW.



In the first incident, reported June 17, the victim stated that the suspect was outside her window and never made entry into the house. However, she did observe his hand reaching inside an open window. The suspect ran off when the victim screamed. The suspect was described as a black male wearing black clothing.



In the next reported incident, about an hour after the first, the victim woke to find the suspect inside her bedroom. The suspect spoke to the victim and, after several minutes, left the house. The suspect was described as a black male in his 20s, about 6-foot-2, with a heavy build. He was wearing a black hooded coat and black sweatpants. Officers searched but did not find the suspect.



On June 19, just after 1 a.m., a victim was asleep in her room when she observed an unknown man inside the room, sitting on the edge of her bed. The victim was able to walk past the suspect into another room, where she called 911. During that the time, the suspect left. That suspect was described, again, as a black male, about 6-foot-1, with a heavy build. Officers conducted an area search but did not find the suspect.



On June 19, around 4 a.m., a victim awoke to discover an unknown man standing outside her bedroom door. The victim’s husband chased the suspect out the front door of the house. The suspect was described as a tall black male in all black clothing with something covering his face.



“This thing of people opening windows and going into (the window in) the middle of the night is not something I’ve heard before,” said Willemain.



“He popped open the screen in my kitchen window,” said the victim who spoke with Q13 News and asked to remain anonymous. She said the man who broke in then cleaned up the glass he broke while he entered the home.



This victim says she’s already installed a security system and neighbors say they’re all locking up and looking out for each other.



People living in this West Seattle neighborhood say they had a meeting with Seattle police on Friday and were promised more patrols in this neighborhood, which they say they have not seen.



SPD says they are increasing patrols in this area and are still looking for the suspect.



Police are encouraging people to close and lock windows at night and report any suspicious activity.







