A "traumatized" Queens couple discovered a stranger lounging in their apartment while they were on vacation — thanks, they claim, to the luxury building's doorman who handed the intruder the keys.
Bill and Yelim Kim were away from their posh Purves Street Long Island City apartment on July 24 when they got a ping from their home-security system informing them that there was somebody in their home.
When they looked at the camera's live feed, what they saw was horrifying — a woman traipsing about their apartment, helping herself to a drink and chilling out on their couch.
Yelim said that "it was panic, panic, panic" after seeing the startling sight on the last night of their trip to Yellowstone National Park.
"I was in disbelief. I just could not believe what I was seeing," Bill told FOX 5. "We can't help or wonder, what would she have done if we didn't catch her on camera?"
But then their stomachs dropped even further — the woman found the camera watching her and ripped it off the bookshelf where it stood, terrifying footage shows.
"If we didn't have a security camera set up, would she have just stayed?" an incredulous Bill said. "This was almost 11 p.m. at night. Would she have slept in our bed?"
Instead of relaxing after a long day, the couple's final night of vacation "got completely derailed," Bill said Tuesday night.
He said they screen-recorded the mortifying ordeal and had to "spend several hours calling the police and calling our friends" from their yurt in the national park.
Yelim called the local precinct and had to "convince" the cops that it wasn't a prank, she said.
Two of the couple's friends arrived at the ritzy Long Island City building before police showed up and one of the pals knocked on the couple's door to confront the intruder.
"It was incredibly stupid and brave for him to do that," Yelim said of her friend.
The squatter was asked to leave, which she did, but reappeared a few minutes later and used a set of keys to let herself back in.
"My friend sees her fumbling through keys in her hand. So there was more than one [set of keys], and she uses one of them to open the door and come in," Yelim added.
Shortly after going back into the apartment, police showed up and the woman was taken away in an ambulance.
Building management later said in an email to tenants that the woman posed as a dogwalker for the Kims and was let up to the apartment by a doorman.
That doorman was removed from the property and security measures are being enhanced.
Those measures apparently worked, as the woman even reappeared two days after the initial incident. She claimed she was there to see someone and tried to get in — but was turned away.
"We were scared. I had like a full stomach ache when I saw her," Yelim said. "I just, I could not believe that she was back here."
Yelim said that the woman was wearing the same dress and heels from the initial ordeal and "looked really distressed" when they saw her in the lobby.
The woman was also wearing a hospital bracelet and "it seemed like she got discharged from the hospital and just came straight [back]," Bill said.
She has not been identified or charged with anything, but the NYPD is investigating the case as a burglary.
The couple said none of their belongings were stolen.
Despite the response, the Kims are not feeling much reassurance.
Bill said they feel "terrible" being back in their apartment. "It doesn't feel like a safe space for us anymore," he said.
Yelim added that she "definitely feels violated."
"I'm freaking traumatized. I don't know how else to, you know, describe it," said Yelim.
The couple, who were due to renew their lease in September, said they are "frantically" looking for another apartment.
"We can't be here anymore," Bill added.
