(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -We've all heard the phrase, "If you see something, say something." One North Spokane woman heard something, and followed through.
Overnight, around 1 a.m., Nancy Pope was sitting on her porch having a smoke break, when she saw someone creeping around her neighbor's empty house that's for sale. Knowing the man didn't live there, Pope took matters into her own hands.
"I'm always out here, I see and hear everything," Pope said.
Pope calls this a quiet part of town.
"It's not usually like that in this neighborhood, I was kind of surprised," Pope said.
Pope said Tuesday morning, police were patrolling the area because a group of people were trying to break into her neighbor's empty house.
But then, she said, it happened again. This time, she spoke up. She yelled at the burglar from her sidewalk.
"You don't live there, I don't think you live there," Pope said.
She said the man took off, but she'll be watching to see if anyone tries to come back.
If your home is going to be empty for an extended period, whether you live there or not, C.O.P.S. spokesman Patrick Striker had some ideas for how to keep it break-in proof:
cancel your newspaper for that time
ask your neighbors to keep an eye out
leave a radio on
put your lights on timers
And if you want that extra peace of mind:
"If you know you're not going to be there, just give us your address and we'll swing by and take a look, make sure there's no sign of entry," Striker said.
Something Striker and Pope both agree on, is to stay vigilant, and get to know your neighbors.