When police receive an emergency call about a potential home invasion, they take it seriously. A call that came into the Washington County Sheriff’s Department about a potential burglary in a small town on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, was no exception. But when the police arrived, surrounded the house, and entered with guns brandished and a member of the canine uni, they were surprised to find that the assailant was just a robotic vacuum.
The incident started when dispatch received a call from a man who was staying at his nephew’s home. He and another person were inside the house and began to hear strange sounds coming from behind the bathroom door. The man, fearing for his safety, called the police and reported what he believed to be a potential attempted burglary.
A few minutes after the call was placed, police showed up at the house. A number of officers surrounded it and began calling out to the suspected intruder, urging them to exit the home. No one came out, and the sounds of rustling and movement continued. As the police entered the home and approached the bathroom, the sounds only got louder. After once again giving the potential burglar a chance to stand down, the officers opened the bathroom door.
That’s when they found the real culprit: A robotic vacuum that trapped itself in the bathroom. Anyone who owns a robot vacuum is probably familiar with this situation, as the devices tend to have a bit of a mind of their own while exploring a home and manage to find new and creative ways to get stuck no matter how far out of your way you go to clear the floors for them.
The officers who discovered the Roomba hard at work cleaning the floors had a good laugh about the situation. One of the officers said, “There’s the bad guy!” upon seeing the robot vacuum diligently sucking up dirt from the floor. Luckily, the entire interaction was captured on police body cameras and released by Washington County for the public to see. No word on if the Roomba was taken in for questioning, though.
