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Deployed soldier sees Fayetteville home break-in on surveillance video

A soldier who owns a home in Fayetteville but is stationed in Afghanistan to serve her country is reeling after someone broke into her house while she was abroad. Now, Master Sgt. Charlene Davis, still living thousands of miles away, is working with police to help solve the crime.

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A soldier serving in Afghanistan is reeling after someone broke into her Fayetteville home.

From thousands of miles away, Master Sgt. Charlene Davis is working with police to help solve the crime.

She has been stationed in Afghanistan since July 2017, leaving her home in Cumberland County unattended. So, no one was home last week when a burglar broke into the residence on Dec. 7.

Davis was able to provide investigators with video from a motion-activated camera above her front door. In it, a man unscrews a light bulb on the porch. Several minutes later, he tries to get into the home by repeatedly hitting a storm door with a hammer.

"There are boards securing the front door that is still damaged," Davis said Monday.

The man eventually kicked his way into the home. Surveillance camera footage captured the man running through the house before being scared away by an alarm.

"He was out there for about five hours," Davis said. "He broke my front glass (and) kicked my door in. What saved my home was my ADT alarm."

The man fled from the home before taking anything but still caused quite a bit of damage to the front door. At one point, the man pulled his hood back and part of his face was caught on camera. Cumberland County law enforcement authorities hope the image will lead to an arrest.

Davis said her video system recorded the same person when he rang the doorbell on Nov. 26. Authorities said no one has been arrested yet in connection with the home break-in. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.

Davis was formerly a member of the 82nd Airborne Division but now serves with the US Army Sustainment Command in Illinois.

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