A female squatter accessed a New York City couple’s apartment after lying to the doorman that she was there to walk their dog while they were on vacation.
Bill and Yelim Kim were enjoying the last night of their vacation when they got a Ring notification that someone was in their apartment on July 24.
When they looked at the camera, they saw a woman making herself at home on their couch.
She had allegedly accessed the apartment via a set of spare keys the doorman had given her when she said she was there to walk the Kims’ dog, the couple told Fox 5.
‘I was in disbelief. I just could not believe what I was seeing,’ Bill told the outlet.
‘We can’t help or wonder, what would she have done if we didn’t catch her on camera? If we didn’t have a security camera set up, would she have just stayed? This was almost 11 pm at night. Would she have slept in our bed?’
Bill said the couple has never authorized a guest nor has ever allowed a dog walker to come over while they were not home.
The ordeal derailed the couple’s vacation, they told the New York Post.
Bill and Yelim Kim were on vacation when a random women claimed to be a dog walker and got access to their apartment
She was seen lounging on their couch while they were away. She left after their friend knocked on the door, but she allegedly came back two days later
They spent hours calling the police and friends, including one who showed up to their home and knocked on the door, bravely telling the woman she had to leave.
‘My friend sees her fumbling through keys in her hand,’ she told The Post. ‘It was incredibly stupid and brave for him to do that.’
The woman did leave and police showed up shortly after.
Police arrived at the apartment building around 11 pm and found the woman, who has not been publicly identified, inside the apartment, alongside a damaged bookshelf, which the Kims said she had broken when ripping down the camera.
Two days later, the woman allegedly came back, bypassing the lobby. She was allegedly wearing the same dress. She was also allegedly wearing a hospital bracelet, The Post reported.
‘It seemed like she got discharged from the hospital and just came straight [back],’ Bill told the outlet.
The woman has not been arrested. The Daily Mail has reached out to the NYPD for comment.
‘I’m freaking traumatized,’ Yelim told Fox 5. ‘I don’t know how else to describe it.’
She also took down the couple’s camera after she noticed it, damaging their bookshelf
Join the discussion
Who should be held responsible when building staff hand over keys to strangers?
The couple also later learned the woman had pressured the doorman into giving her the keys.
‘I need to get the dogs. I need to get the dogs,’ she allegedly told him, according to NBC New York.
The building’s management company, Goose Property Management, has let the employee go, it told the couple.
It is also reviewing its procedures and making security enhancements, it said.
The Kims are now looking for a new place to live ahead of their lease renewal at the end of the month.
‘It doesn’t feel like a safe space for us anymore,’ Bill told The Post.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Halo and the Kims for comment.
