Man climbs in bed with sleeping NC State students

Jim Sughrue, a spokesman for the Raleigh Police Department, says it's not the first time they've received such a report.

Since February 2011, investigators have received reports of nine similar cases in neighborhoods north of Hillsborough Street near N.C. State, but the victims usually have a limited description of the intruder, making it difficult to determine if they are related.

Sughrue said it's impossible to say if the latest case is related.

It happened shortly before 4:30 a.m., when a man walked into an unlocked home on Chamberlain Street and rubbed the legs and backs of two women living there. No one was injured, and police said there was no indication that the man had a weapon.

He was described as black, approximately 6 feet tall, with a muscular build, dark complexion and a short afro. He was wearing a dark-colored T-shirt and jeans.

The last report of such an encounter was Dec. 7, when a woman reported hearing tapping and then someone trying to get in through the front door of her home in the 2600 block of Clark Avenue. She screamed, scaring the person away.

Other cases in 2011 include:

• A 19-year-old woman reported on Feb. 14 that something had been done to make it easier to peep into her home in the 400 block of Brooks Avenue.

• A woman reported on March 19 that someone was tapping on the window of her home in the 100 block of Dixie Trail. Four days later, she reported seeing someone looking through the window.

• A woman told police on July 23 that she saw someone outside the same home on Dixie Trial.

• A woman told police that a man touched her in her bed at her home in the 2600 block of Vanderbilt Avenue on Aug. 25 after the man was let in by the woman's roommate, who thought the man knew someone living there.

• A woman reported on Aug. 27 that she saw someone steal cash from her apartment in the 100 block of Pogue Street. The person ran away when she screamed.

• Several people reported on Sept. 11 seeing a man in a bedroom doorway of a home also in the 2600 block of Vanderbilt Avenue. When he saw them, he fled.

• A woman told police on Sept. 12 that she heard someone trying to get into her home through a locked door in the 2500 block of Clark Avenue.

• A woman on Bagwell Avenue reported being inappropriately touched in her sleep on Oct. 16. When she woke up, the person fled.

Police say the best way to help prevent such encounters from happening is to always lock doors and windows, even if home, close blinds, curtains and shades and always be aware of surroundings.

Anyone with information about Friday morning's incident is asked to contact Raleigh police at 919-829-1911 or 919-834-4357.