Man reaches through open window, grabs sleeping 14-year-old in North Carolina

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — A Winston-Salem family no longer feels safe after a man reached through an open window and grabbed a sleeping 14-year-old in the middle of the night.

“He’s still out here and he could be doing that to somebody else and next time it could be a smaller child,” said Tanisha Washington, the teen’s mother. “It takes away your feeling of safety in your own home.”

It happened around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 28. According to Winston-Salem police, the suspect used a chair to reach into the child’s open window while she was sleeping.

“When she saw him, I’m guessing he noticed her eyes were open,” Washington said. “That’s when he reached in and grabbed her, and that’s when she screamed.”

Washington said her daughter’s yell for help scared the person away.

“You didn’t just reach in and grab her,” Washington said. “You took away her sense of security in her home, in her bedroom.”

While the man has not been identified, he was captured on a nearby home security camera that night. His brief actions left a lasting impression on her daughter.

“He took a bubbly teenager that had all this life, all of this sense of humor, all of this life in her and he just made her scared of everything,” Washington said.

Washington has since installed a security system and cameras for peace of mind. She said they will never take away the pain the man caused.

“As a parent, you can’t take it away, even though no matter how hard you want to, you can’t take that away from her,” Washington said. “That’s something she’ll never be the same from.”

Washington said she won’t rest until the person is identified.

During a neighborhood canvas, police discovered objects placed below windows at two other homes the same night.

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