Security video captured the moment three masked men attempted to break into a Pico-Robertson home as a nanny and a baby hid inside.
The attempted break-in happened in broad daylight last week, according to the homeowners who did not want to be identified.
The homeowner had left briefly to pick up another child from school when the suspects decided to strike.
Video shows the trio scaling a fence and wall in the home’s front yard before running to the back patio door to enter the home.
“I got a call from my nanny and she tells me, whispering and very hysterical, that she’s in the bathroom with my baby and that something happened and I should come back fast and help,” the homeowner recalled.
Panicked, she raced home while the nanny and her baby continued hiding in the bathroom. The police were contacted and arrived shortly, but the thieves had already fled.
While reviewing her home security tape, the homeowner realized the men had fled the moment they realized someone was inside the home.
“They just slid [the backyard door] open, they saw the nanny and they ran, which is a good thing,” she said.
The homeowner said she’s extremely grateful to her nanny for protecting her baby during the terrifying ordeal.
However, she remains terrified for their future safety, especially after realizing the masked men had cased her home earlier that day and a few days prior to the break-in.
Her security video captured the suspects’ blue-grey sedan driving by on multiple occasions. She even recalled admiring the vehicle’s unique color one day as it was parked outside of her home.
“I grew up in Israel, so I grew up with terror and fear and I moved to the other side of the world thinking, ‘I’m in L.A., the American Dream. It’s safe here,'” she said. “But it’s not. Not anymore.”