Melora Rivera: the actress who escaped from her rooftop home intruder
In 2014, Melora Rivera, a young actress, experienced moments of horror when a homeless man broke into her home in Venice, California. Instead of succumbing to fear, she decided to escape in a bold and surprising way: she climbed onto the roof and waited for the police to arrive.
The incident
On the morning of Wednesday, September 24, 2014, Rivera woke up to the sound of the front door opening with force. She did not have time to get dressed or look for a weapon, so she jumped out of bed and climbed onto the roof, realizing that she could not stay inside the house with an unknown intruder. Wearing only a flannel shirt, she grabbed her mobile phone and called the authorities, while the intruder followed her to the roof.
According to Rivera, the man was screaming and threatening to kill her. "He was saying: I'm here to kill you, I'm here to kill you,"she said in an interview with the local KTLA station. "He was trying to get to me, but I was trying to get away from him,"she added.
At the same time, an eyewitness watched the incident from his balcony, taking a picture of Rivera holed up under the ceiling with the man behind her. The witness posted the photo on Twitter, writing: "a burglar in Venice follows a woman on the roof. The police were called". The photo became viral on social media, aroused people's sympathy for Rivera and their disapproval of the intruder.
The LAPD arrived in about two minutes, but they only saw Rivera on the roof, and they were not sure that she was not the intruder they called to stop him. They used a ladder to help Rivera get off the roof, she was unharmed. They arrested the intruder on the spot, charged him with burglary, set his bail in the amount of 50 thousand dollars.
Results
After the incident, Rivera expressed gratitude to the police and neighbors for their help. "I thank God for protecting me, I thank the LAPD for their quick response, I thank my neighbors for their support,"she said in a tweet. She also thanked the witness who took the photo, said that she helped document the incident and prove her innocence.
However, Rivera was not without shock and fear. She said that she suffers from insomnia and anxiety, that she feels afraid to stay in her house. "I don't feel safe here, I don't know what I'm going to do,"she said. She also said that she sympathizes with the intruder, and that she hopes that he will get the help he needs. She said: "I don't hate him, but I feel sad for him . He is sick , he needs treatment".
Meanwhile, Rivera became famous because of the incident, and she received many offers and opportunities from the entertainment industry. She said she hoped to use her fame to spread awareness about security and homeless issues. "I am grateful for the opportunity I had, and I want to use it for good,"she said.
Sources
: IMDb
: Daily Mail
: HuffPost
: KTLA
