Uninvited guest: Philadelphia police investigate bizarre Mayfair home invasion

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Philadelphia couple is dealing with the aftermath of a terrifying experience: a stranger walked into their house and began to make himself at home.

It happened around 6:20 Tuesday morning on the 3400 block of Englewood Street. Home surveillance captured the suspect opening an unlocked door and walking into the home.

Melissa Gladney said she had walked out of her home to go to work.

"I just saw black. I started yelling, screaming, the neighbors came out, but he just kept saying 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry,'" said Gladney.

"Fifteen seconds later, 20 seconds later, a gentleman walked in. I thought it was her at first, he hid behind the door," said Joe Kajder, Melissa's husband, who was still home with the couple's two kids and mother-in-law.

"I saw him taking off his scarf, his jacket. I said, 'Excuse me sir, you're in the wrong house, you have to get out,'" said Kajder.

The couple says their first thought was about their children.

"What if my kids were sitting on the couch like they do every morning? And my husband was in the kitchen. So this man could've walked in and got my kids and took off, he could've hurt the kids, anything," said Gladney.

Their second was about escaped prisoner Gino Hagenkotter, who had broken out of Riverside Correctional Facility last week. The prison is about two miles from the couple's home.

"Yeah, it's right on State Road, so my next thought was maybe I should call the cops, because I don't know if it was this guy," said Gladney.

Philadelphia police say Hagenkotter was not the intruder and this suspect is unknown. Neighbors say the man tried to break into several other homes too, erratically knocking on doors for long periods of time.

Gladney and Kajder they're going to be more careful.

"Lock your doors. Even if you're walking to the curb to put your trash out, lock your door, because you do not know what is going to happen," said Gladney.