Alexandria resident Kathleen Wiederman says she found herself in a fearful state of shock Tuesday morning when she discovered a stranger just outside her bedroom door.

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Wiederman and her 3-year-old daughter were sleeping upstairs when two burglars broke through a screen and entered through an open first floor window.

“The first thing I thought or did was yell and it scared him away,” she says. “I guess because he took off running.”

Wiederman left the windows open in her Old Town home because the weather had been so nice. But Alexandria police say that simple action is what causes a spike in burglaries in the Spring. In Wiedeman’s case, the suspects cut out the screen and climbed in.

Homeowners leave doors and windows open to let in the warm weather while offering easy access to thieves.

“Anybody that is planning on burglarizing a house they don't spend any more than a minute getting in and moving on to the next house,” says Officer Charlie Lloyd with the Alexandria Police. “If you provide them with easy access, they're more likely to enter your house.”