Camera Rolls As Man Climbs Into Woburn Home During Break In Attempt

Many times when a resident suspects a break in, it’s unclear how it happened or who was involved. All Jacqueline Duffy had to do, however, was hit the play button.

After having her Salem Street home broken into two times in five years, Duffy had a security system installed with a video camera pointing at the window that had been used as the point of entry during one of the previous entries.

On Friday, Sept. 20, when her security alarm was activated, Duffy went to the videotape and what she found stunned her. She watched as a man pried himself through the window on the side of her air conditioning unit, successfully entering the house.

“Watching the footage brought out a flood of different emotions,” said Duffy. “I was upset that someone would invade our home, relieved that the security system worked and thought it was a bit funny the way he squeezed in. I have no idea who the man is, nor do I want to ‘meet’ him again.”

The man was startled when the alarm went off, and left the home without taking anything, but Duffy immediately called police. Woburn Police Officers sent out a screen shot of the man who entered the house, and thanks to a statewide database, a suspect quickly emerged when he was recognized by Lynn Police.

When an officer asked Charles Derochemont, 35, of 1A MacArthur Circle, Peabody, if he knew anything about the incident, he quickly confessed and admitted to climbing through the window.

To confirm, officers asked Derochemont to describe the clothing he was wearing and to show them the hat he had on in the video. The Peabody resident provided a video statement to police admitting to entering the home, citing a variety of “personal issues” as the reason he attempted the break in, according to the police report.

As for Duffy, she uploaded the security footage onto YouTube as a way to show residents what can happen when you have a first floor air conditioning unit in the window. Her 59-second clip titled “Busted Burgler” had over 368,000 views as of Wednesday morning.

“Needless to say, we are looking into installing central air,” said Duffy.