Tech

Oregon deputies with 'guns drawn' respond to report of intruder to find ... a Roomba vacuum

Elisha Fieldstadt
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Key Points
  • Oregon deputies responded to a report of an intruder only to find that it was in fact a Roomba vacuum cleaner.
  • "Multiple deputies" arrived quickly, requested K9 backup and brandished their weapons to find a vacuum cleaner.
  • The sheriff's department said in a statement that the Roomba conducted a "very thorough vacuuming job."
Roomba, by iRobot Corporation
Credit: iRobot Corporation

An Oregon sheriff's department responding en masse with "guns drawn" to a call about an intruder locked in a woman's bathroom found the suspect was in fact a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Tuesday that a woman called to report a person was in her bathroom with the door locked and said she could "see shadows under the bathroom door."

Seven minutes later, "multiple deputies" arrived at the home and requested K-9 backup, the statement said.

"As we entered the home we could hear 'rustling' in the bathroom," one of the responding deputies wrote in the statement.

Deputies ordered the person to come out of the locked bathroom but got no response.

They needed to act.

"With guns drawn, deputies open the door to encounter the suspect … an automated robot vacuum," the statement said.

The statement added that the Roomba was performing a "very thorough vacuuming job."

It's unclear if the Roomba has retained an attorney.

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