Woman Breaks Into House — And Cleans It

A woman from Elyria, Ohio, allegedly broke into a nearby residence last May just to tidy it up

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It’s probably safe to assume  most trespassers enter strangers’ homes with intentions that are less than benevolent. A woman from Elyria, Ohio, however, allegedly broke into a nearby residence last May just to tidy it up. Although she didn’t steal anything, the rather overzealous housekeeper pleaded guilty on Tuesday to attempted burglary in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, the Chronicle-Telegram reported.

Susan Warren, 53, was charged with burglary after she went inside a Westlake, Ohio home and cleaned it. But her services weren’t free — and instead were meant to be an advertisement: after she finished, she scrawled her phone number, along with a bill for $75, on a napkin.

The Chronicle-Telegram reported that Warren stated that she simply “wanted something to do” while driving by the house. In an apparent attempt to eliminate such ennui, Warren let herself into the home, washed coffee mugs, dusted, vacuumed and took out the trash. The homeowner, Sherry Bush, told WKYC in May that she assumed a maid mistakenly entered the wrong house, so she called Warren to sort out the situation.

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“I think our jaws dropped to the ground,” Bush recalled to WKYC. “I said, ‘What happened, did you get the wrong house?’ She said, ‘No, I do this all the time.’ I said, “What do you mean?’ She said, ‘I just stop and clean your house.’” Her unpredictable services have even netted her a nickname around the area: the “Cleaning Fairy.”

Indeed, Westlake Patch noted that Warren hung up on a police officer after assuring him that she “does this all the time.” Warren said she “randomly” picked the house to clean because “she was desperate for money,” Bush told NewsNet5. Bush’s 19-year-old daughter was sleeping at the home at the time of the alleged invasion.

According to the paper, Warren insists Bush overreacted to the incident. Warren said she owns a housekeeping business and regularly enters homes, tidies them up and leaves a bill. NewsNet5 reported in May that there were no signs of forced entry and Warren did not steal anything from Bush’s house.

Warren will be sentenced next month, but she must also appear in court in connection with an April burglary case. The Chronicle-Telegram found that she has previous convictions for disorderly conduct, failure to register as a solicitor and criminal trespass.

More on this story: Susan Warren, ‘Cleaning Fairy,’ Accused of Breaking into Home and Cleaning It