Police on Wednesday sought the public's help identifying a man who broke into a Santa Ana girl's room and exposed himself.
The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at an apartment in the 2300 block of West Edinger Avenue, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.
Surveillance footage from the victim's home shows the suspect trying to break into vehicles parked at the residence before scaling a back fence.
Then, the man allegedly entered the apartment through an unlocked sliding glass door at the unit's rear and went into the room of a 15-year-old girl as she slept.
The victim, who wished to remain unidentified, said she woke up when she felt someone staring at her and opened her eyes to find a strange man in front of her. She struggled to recount what happened next.
“He asked me if I wanted it — if I wanted to see his…yeah. And then he showed me his private area, and that’s when I got scared and I just yelled at my dad two times. And then he told me to be quiet, but I didn’t listen obviously, so I just kept yelling for me dad.”
The intruder hat shut her bedroom door and put his finger to her mouth, signaling for her to remain silent. But luckily, her parents were able to hear her screams.
The girl said he fled ran downstairs and exited through the same sliding glass door he used to enter.
The security video shows him running away while trying to hold up his pants. The footage indicates he entered the apartment at around 1:22 a.m. and left 10 minutes later.
The victim said the incident left her deeply disturbed.
“I was just crying and shaking and I couldn’t talk that day," she said. "I was scared to fall asleep and to see him in front of me again.”
Investigators described the offender as 20- to 25-year-old with a thin build and medium complexion and about 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8 inches tall. He wore a red baseball hat, red shirt and tan pants and was last seen clean-shaven, according to police.
Anyone with information can call detectives at 714-245-8542.
Erika Martin contributed to this report.