Woman finds stranger hiding in closet of looted home, CA cops say. ‘Worst nightmare’

When Brittney Heinzman returned home from vacation, she found her California home ransacked — and a stranger holding a pizza cutter hiding in her closet, she told news outlets.

“She just looked at me like a deer in headlights and I just screamed, ‘Get out! get out!’” Heinzman, 35, told KTLA about the Dec. 1 encounter.

The woman also was holding a cutting board and a kitchen towel, Heinzman told KCAL.

“It’s just like your worst nightmare, you know?” Heinzman told the station.

The intruder ran away, followed by Heinzman, who also called police, Irvine police said in a news release.

Police later arrested a 43-year-old woman living in the same apartment building on charges of burglary and possessing stolen property, the release said.

Investigators believe the woman entered Heinzman’s home several times while she was away, KTLA reported. They found $30,000 worth of Heinzman’s property, including two flat-screen televisions, in the woman’s home, car and storage unit.

“She took sunglasses, she took Dior handbags, she took Chanel handbags, she took socks, she took my work ID, my work badge, my passport, my credit card that she decided to use the next day,” Heinzman told KCAL.

Irvine is about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

This story was originally published December 10, 2023 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Woman finds stranger hiding in closet of looted home, CA cops say. ‘Worst nightmare’."