CLIFFORD, ND — A North Dakota mother says she fought off a burglar inside her home late Sunday while her 4-month-old daughter slept upstairs, turning what could have been a far more dangerous encounter into a terrifying close call. Jessica Stols said the man got inside through an unlocked door leading to the garage around 11:50 p.m. and was moving through the laundry room when she heard noises and realized something was wrong.
Stols said she initially thought her husband was taking the dog out. Instead, she found a stranger inside the house and forced him back outside, pushing him down the stairs and out through the open garage door. She was left with scratches on her forehead and a strong warning for others in the small Traill County town: even quiet places are not immune to crime.
How Jessica Stols forced the intruder out of the house
Stols said the confrontation happened quickly after she heard movement coming from the laundry room, which connects to the garage. Once she realized the person inside was not her husband, she grabbed the man by the shoulders and shoved him toward the exit. She said he nearly tripped as she kept pushing until he was out of the home.
The fight left her with scratches, and she said she was not sure whether they came from the man’s hand or a needle he was holding. In the chaos, she said the scratch made her even more determined to get him out before he could do more harm. The man then ran toward a shelter belt behind the house, disappearing into the darkness.
Baby upstairs and a sleeping husband made the night even more frightening
Stols said the upstairs part of the house is soundproof, which meant her husband, who was asleep, did not hear her yelling for help. Their infant daughter was also upstairs during the break-in. That left Stols alone to deal with the intruder until she could get him out and wait for police.
She described the minutes before officers arrived as nerve-wracking because she did not know whether the man might come back. The uncertainty added to the fear of having a stranger inside a family home in the middle of the night, especially with a baby sleeping just a floor above the confrontation.
Police did not catch the burglar and only a few items were taken
Police did not find the man after the break-in. Stols said he left with a couple of credit cards taken from her purse, but he did not take cash or coins that were also available. The theft was limited, but the family says the emotional impact was much larger than the missing property.
For Stols, the incident served as a blunt reminder that open doors can create risk anywhere, including in a town of about 30 people. Clifford sits about 15 minutes south of Mayville, and she said the episode showed how quickly a peaceful night can turn into a frightening one. Her message afterward was simple: lock the doors.
A quiet Traill County town rattled by a crime that felt close to home
Clifford is a tiny rural community in Traill County, and Stols said that is exactly why the break-in felt so jarring. In places this small, people often think they know everyone around them. The burglary challenged that sense of comfort and left her family shaken, even though the physical injuries were minor.
She said the experience could have ended much worse. Instead, she believes it became a scary lesson about basic home security and awareness. The fact that an intruder could move through the garage and into the house without immediate notice made the event feel unsettling in a way that went beyond the loss of a few credit cards.
Family asks neighbors and farmers to review security cameras for clues
Stols is asking area farmers and nearby residents to check any security cameras on their land in case they captured the burglar. She described the man as a white male, just under 6 feet tall, clean-shaven and likely in his late 20s or early 30s. She said he was wearing a blue sweatshirt, gray sweatpants and sandals.
Those details may help identify a suspect, but for now the man remains at large. Stols said the family is focused on safety and on finding answers, while also trying to move past a night that could have become much more dangerous. For her, the biggest takeaway was that a small-town address does not guarantee protection from a break-in.