Police Dispel Erroneous Facebook Post On House Break-In Attempt

GUILFORD, CT —A Facebook post that alleged an attempted break-in of a North Guilford home with children inside by a Black man was dispelled by Guilford police.

The post, now since removed but with information that was shared widely read: “Yesterday in North Guilford a black man driving a white Lexus or Audi sedan with tinted windows went to my neighbor's house at 10:15 a.m. He rang the doorbell, the teenage girl open the door. He saw her, she was homeschooling with her brother. He walked to the back door to open it. The police said he is a sexual predator. Please alert families homeschooling.”

And while the original post is gone, others shared the erroneous details in their own Facebook posts.

Guilford police said the post was shared across town creating a panic and resulted in voluminous calls and Facebook messages to police. But it turns out the man was “a person known to someone in the house,” and was not a sexual predator.

“The Guilford Police Department has been made aware of misinformation circulating on social media and wishes to dispel any information being circulated now that is not fact based or received directly from the Guilford Police Department,” its Facebook post reads.

"As always, the Guilford Police Department investigates complaints thoroughly and would notify the public in a timely manner if there was a threat to public safety," police said.