Family watches crook leave home, find dog beaten, wait hours for Detroit police

DETROIT (WJBK) - A family in Detroit is disappointed with the police response after they came home to find a man running out of their house. They waited for hours outside before police arrived to investigate, as they still believed a second suspect may have been inside. 

"As I was coming home, I went in the house to set the alarm off - but it was going off. It was beeping," remembers Delane Sims. "Then I noticed there was a shadow, and then the shadow was going out the back door."

She caught a glimpse of the thief before he ran from the house, which is on McDougall Street on Detroit's east side. The man was dressed in all black with his face covered.

"I ran back to the front. It sounded like some clinking in the upstairs, so I called 911. I told them somebody could still be inside the house. They said to stay outside," she says.

"It's very scary to come home from work and find the house broken into," says Jamecca Sims. She says she called 911, too.

"I was just told, we'll get there when we can. No one's available right now."

The family waited outside, also finding their family dog had been beaten in the backyard during the home invasion.

"They hit my dog with a 2x4. He is limping. It's very scary. And they broke into the lady's house across the street a week ago," says Jamecca.

Officers arrived almost two hours later and determined no one else in the home. The thief managed to get away with some jewelry. Officers and detectives collected evidence and talked to the family members and neighbors.

"I don't think the police give us enough help around here. In two hours, if I tell them I think somebody is still inside my house, I think they should have been here by now," says Delane.

Detroit police say it took their officers some time to respond because they were already dealing with several higher priority calls, but they say they got there as soon as they could.

Shortly before police arrived the family did re-enter the home to take another look at what had been damaged.

"A lot of people don't even want to call on police and they take matters into their own hands because of things like this," says Jamecca.

Police have not made any arrests in this case.