Police: Confessed burglar tells officers why he invaded Westlake home

WESTLAKE , Ohio (WJW) — Imagine waking up and realizing that someone has broken into your house and may still be inside.

The nightmare scenario recently became a reality for a family in Westlake. Police were called to the home after the homeowners discovered signs that a burglar had broken in, rifled through their belongings and took some of their valuables — all while they were still in bed upstairs.

Officers carefully searched the entire property out of fear that the intruder might still be hiding somewhere inside.

“You usually get burglars when no one is home. Usually the burglars want to make sure no one is home. They’ll knock on the door or scout it out a little bit to make sure the family leaves or the person leaves before they break in. This is an odd case; a very dangerous criminal,” Westlake police Capt. Jerry Vogel told FOX 8 News.

Family members told police that the first clue they found that the home had been invaded was a fur coat on the floor.

“No one would be messing with it in the middle of summer, so leaving it on the ground was not a normal thing for the house. They knew that someone had messed with things, so they started looking into it a little more,” said Vogel.

The family then discovered the suspect had broken out a window on the first floor and laid a towel taken from their pool house over the windowsill to protect himself. But it turns out he had been cut when he broke the window, and it left vital evidence at the scene.

“We found some blood drops here and there, mostly around the window when he entered the house,” said Vogel.

Investigators sent the blood samples to the lab for DNA analysis, and they matched the DNA of an Akron man who had been paroled from prison earlier this year after serving 15 years for aggravated robbery.

Westlake police then contacted the suspect’s parole officer, who convinced 38-year-old George Howes to report to his office. Detectives were waiting when Howes showed up.

After he was arrested, he openly admitted that he broke into the house three weeks earlier, but his motive for the crime was surprising.

“He indicated that he thought he was going to get arrested a lot quicker. He really wanted to be back in jail,” Vogel told us. “He said that he wasn’t cutting it on the outside so he did a crime to try and get back and he thought it would catch up to him much quicker.”

Investigators said the crime committed by George Howes will have a lasting impact on the victims, whose feelings of safety and security in their castle were shattered by the home invasion.

“You don’t know what would have happened if they would have run across him while he was inside the house. You have no idea how he would react or what he might do,” said Vogel.

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