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Homeowner scares off would-be burglars by shouting at them through doorbell camera

'The first thing that popped into my mind was to say 'get away from the door,' says Clem Ho

Toyin Owoseje
Monday 05 November 2018 15:55 GMT
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Man stops thieves attempting to burgle his house by shouting through his smart doorbell

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A homeowner used his video doorbell to scare away two would-be burglars as they attempted to break into his home.

Clem Ho, from Edmonton, Canada, yelled “get away from the door” through his smart doorbell as one of the thieves tried to prise open his front door with a screwdriver while his accomplice kept lookout.

The father-of-three was alerted to the attempted break-in at his family home in Wedgewood Heights after receiving a notification on his phone. When he checked the live feed he saw someone dressed as postman loitering on his doorstep.

The video shows him ringing the doorbell a few times before using a walkie-talkie to summon another man, who is wearing a blue New York Yankees baseball cap.

“By the time the second guy showed up, I knew it was a matter of seconds,” Mr Ho told CTV News Edmonton.

“Adrenaline was running high. He makes three or four really hard attempts [to get in].

Mr Ho sprang into action when he saw the man put on black gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints on the door.

“The first thing that popped into my mind was to say 'Get away from the door’”.

My Ho posted the video of the incident, which started at around 1:45pm and only lasted a few minutes, on YouTube. It has received thousands of views.

He revealed that things could have ended very differently had he not listened to his wife.

"I had suggested to my wife that we save a little bit of money and cancel our alarm monitoring ... thankfully she [stopped me]."

Edmonton police are investigating the attempted break-in.

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