Massachusetts

Man Surrenders to Police After Being Seen on Camera Entering Northbridge Home

He walked out after about 15 minutes, thinking he'd been scammed or misled, Northbridge police said in a statement

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A man turned himself in to police in Northbridge, Massachusetts, Tuesday, after he was allegedly caught on camera walking into a home in the town over the weekend.

The man, 26-year-old Esteban De Jesus Fonfrias-Soto, told officers that he'd entered the home because he thought he was meeting someone he'd recently met on Snapchat, the social media app. He walked out after about 15 minutes, thinking he'd been scammed or misled, Northbridge police said in a statement.

Fonfrias-Soto, from Worcester, held on a felony charge of breaking and entering. He was released on bail ahead of a court hearing in Uxbridge Wednesday, according to police.

It wasn't immediately clear if Fonfrias-Soto had an attorney representing him.

Doorbell camera showed a man confidently walking into the home on Sunday afternoon while appearing to text on his cellphone.

Police in Northbridge are investigating a home invasion that was caught on camera.

The homeowner, Tarah Schweitzer, called the incident bizarre, unsettling and nerve-wracking. She, her husband and other adult relatives were in the backyard trying to put together a swing set while their 1-year-old son was napping in his bedroom and their two other children and niece played inside, Schweitzer said.

The man was inside for 16 minutes before he was caught on camera calmly walking back out the front door.

"My daughter said, 'Mommy, there was someone in our house,' and I said, 'No, there wasn't,' and then my husband came out and said, 'Blake said there was someone in our house,'" Schweitzer recalled.

It appeared nothing was stolen and no one was harmed in the incident, Northbridge Police Chief Timothy LaBrie said Monday, before the man turned himself in.

"Anytime you have any type of house break or breaking and entering, and then with the length of time the individual's in the house, it's definitely concerning," he said.

He explained to NBC10 Boston on Tuesday, after the arrest was announced, that Fonfrias-Soto faces a felony charge because someone who breaks into a home does so to commit a felony.

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