When Katelyn Sweeney woke up just before 7 a.m. Nov. 16 to the sound of footsteps downstairs in her two-story Southport home, she knew something was wrong.
"I knew someone was inside the house," Sweeney said. "I looked outside the house for a vehicle — there was no vehicle, but I could see my vehicle was open."
The home's garage door was also open, according to Sweeney.
Because the house was being remodeled, Sweeney said, the closest weapon at hand on the second floor was a crowbar, which she picked up. The home's security alarm also began to sound during the break-in.
"I called 911, running down the stairs and yelling for them to get out of the house," Sweeney said. "I heard footsteps and the garage door close."
On the advice of a Anchorage Police Department dispatcher, Sweeney locked herself in a bathroom and waited for police to respond. She said officers arrived within minutes — from another nearby burglary call.
In that call, about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, the homeowner told police he was drinking coffee when he heard his garage door opening, APD spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said.
"He grabbed his laser-sighted firearm with him to go check out what was in the garage and found his garage door completely opened," Castro wrote in an email. "There was a dark-colored Toyota truck parked in his driveway that was running. The complainant stated when he pointed his laser from his gun towards the truck it sped away."
Police said that in both incidents, garage-door openers taken from vehicles outside were used to gain access to the homes.
"The suspect vehicle in (Sweeney's) case, a green Toyota Tacoma, matched the description of the suspect vehicle that was involved in the burglary that had been reported about a half-hour prior," Castro wrote.
Castro said police then received a report at 8:20 a.m. that day that the Tacoma had been spotted near Huffman Road. When police tried to stop it at the Holiday gas station on Huffman, the truck was driven away headed east, but not before an officer noted that it had been fitted with a stolen license plate.
The description of the vehicle matches a Tacoma pickup that Linnaea Ward-Develice, a supervisor at the coffeehouse in Anchorage's South restaurant, said was one of two Toyotas stolen this month from her parents' Turnagain home.
Their black FJ Cruiser with a white roof was taken overnight Nov. 6 before anybody woke up. Two days later, their green Toyota Tacoma four-door pickup was also taken from the home.
Ward-Develice said her mother, Jean Ward, reported the Tacoma's theft. According to Castro, Ward told police she stepped outside with a gun after seeing a sedan parked behind the truck at about 6:20 a.m. on Nov. 8.
"Ward stated she saw two white males in their late 20s wearing dark clothes," Castro wrote. "Ward stated she yelled at them and pointed the gun at them. Ward stated one got in the sedan and the other jumped into the truck and left."
Castro said it wasn't clear whether the Tacoma stolen in Turnagain was the vehicle used in Wednesday's burglaries.
The stolen FJ Cruiser was spotted Thursday on Sixth Avenue and recovered. Castro said responding officers found it also fitted with stolen license plates.
The string of incidents has prompted police to ask that residents keep some home-security tips in mind this winter, such as not leaving unattended and unlocked vehicles idling outdoors to warm them up. In January, police said more than a dozen Anchorage vehicles were stolen in 24 hours, and "a majority" of those were taken while they were idling.
"It is also becoming a more prevalent practice for thieves to steal garage door openers from vehicles and then either immediately use those openers to enter the home or to come back a day or two later and then attempt to gain access to the house," police wrote in a statement. "For this reason, (APD) also strongly advises people to not leave their garage door openers inside their vehicles."
Sweeney said Thursday that she was switching to smartphone-based garage-door controls and adding floodlights to her home. She also works as a coffee shop barista and said the break-in followed a series of incidents at that job which have decreased her personal sense of security.
"I feel fine in my neighborhood, but I don't feel safe in Anchorage anymore," Sweeney said. "I'm getting a gun today — I'm 21 years old and getting a gun."