A Toronto father is speaking out about a traumatic experience hoping other families learn from what happened at his home after his son opened the door to a pair of strangers.
“We’ve told him countless times, don’t answer the door, there’s no need to answer the door,” said the father, whose identity Global News agreed to safeguard.
The 13-year-old boy was at home alone on Saturday afternoon when a man and woman approached the front door and knocked several times.
Eventually, the boy opened the door and video shows the pair promptly walking inside.
It appears the man was holding a sharp tool.
The woman can be heard asking, “Hi! Is your mom there?” and suggesting she told her to come to the home.
Meantime, the boy’s parents, who were both out, received a notification on their mobile phones from an app connected to the home security system.
“I’m watching this happen live and I’m trying to have a three-way conversation through this technology that we had installed in our home. But at the present time, they’re already inside the home,” said the father.
He was working outside the home and his wife was at their daughter’s dance class.
“I’m watching this and I was horrified of what was happening and what was taking place, how cunning they are,” said the father, adding “I was distraught and my wife was at the other end seeing this and she was horrified trying to contact my son, who was in dire straits.”
The family called 9-1-1 and rushed home.
“My son was being taken hostage in his own home by a perpetrator,” he added.
The boy told his father he felt the pair was up to no good once they were inside the home. The boy noticed what looked like a screwdriver in the man’s hands so he told them his mother was in the basement and father was in the backyard.
“He was blindsided by what the female accomplice was doing, which was basically trying to grasp at anything that was (within reach), and sure enough, she did see a laptop and we were glad to part with it since there was no other physicality which ensued,” said the father.
Within minutes, the pair left the home.
Toronto police attended and are investigating.
The homeowner is sharing this story in hopes others have an important conversation with their children about opening the door to strangers.
“(It was) traumatizing, but it’s an eye-opener,” said the homeowner. “I’m just glad nothing happened to (my son).”
He is also relieved he chose to install an outdoor security camera just two weeks before this incident.
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