Iain Rose looks through the aftermath of an equally terrifying and unusual situation.
“We didn’t know what to do,” said the home’s renter.
On Thursday night a woman broke into the house right after she tried to steal a car from the car dealership next door.
But the intruder didn’t just use the house for hiding.
“She did really random things,” said Rose’s partner Kristen Jensen. “Every random piece of clothing she tried on, every shoe she tried on, including shaving her legs and putting on my hair extensions.”
And it gets even more strange.
Jensen says the woman packed random items including candles, tv remotes, cups, and clothing, into Jensen’s own bags.
The couple believes the woman made more than 30 trips up and down the stairs, rearranging their furniture and putting on Jansen’s makeup.
Jensen’s sister and neighbour, Alissa Jensen, was one of the first to see the woman in the bedroom through the basement window.
“I told her to get out and she looked dead at me and said, ‘no,’” recalled Alissa. “That was the point that we had just, or decided to, call the cops.”
Police arrived just after 10 p.m. and spent nearly four hours negotiating with the woman eventually bringing in the Emergency Response Team.
“They could have taken on the A-Team, there was so many cops there,” said Rose. “There was like 30 of them with their weapons and dogs and everything.”
Police broke the bedroom window, throwing in a distraction smoke and flash device that set the bed on fire.
The woman was then taken into custody, but that was just the start of the couple’s problems.
Although the couple has renters insurance, they say the insurance company has denied them almost any support.
“They’re basically telling us that unless something’s been removed or burned to a crisp, or vaporized, they’re not going to help us,” said Rose.
Iain’s three children have had to live elsewhere, as traces of various drugs were left all throughout the house, and now they’re left with a major mess.
But there is some silver lining – unexpected help from VicPD.
“When they heard BCAA insurance were messing around and not going to help us, they were going to step up and cover the damage and the ruined items,” said Rose.
VicPD is also paying for a cleanup crew to come in on Monday to make sure all the drugs the suspect left behind are gone.
The couple says they are grateful for the help from VicPD.
“They didn’t need to help legally,” said Rose “They’re here as a service and they’re here to help.”
Rebecca Lawrence
