What started as a neighbourly dispute ended with one of those neighbours “tunnelling” into the unit of the other, according to Calgary police.
It’s an incident police call disturbing and a violation of space.
“I’ll sum it up in one word: creepy,” said Insp. Keith Hurley.
Police say a woman had been having ongoing issues with the neighbour living directly below her unit on the 6400 block of Coach Hill Road S.W.
Hurley said there had been one or two interactions between the male neighbour and police over the past couple of months, where there was concern for his mental health.
The issues were enough that the woman left her residence for a period of time, somewhere between a few weeks to a month, said Hurley.
“I think for their own feeling of safety and to get … space from the situation.”
When she came home, she had some difficulty entering the unit because her door was locked from the inside, Hurley said.
“I don’t know the exact nature of that lock from the inside, but I’m guessing it’s something that could only be manipulated by somebody inside the residence.”
Once she got inside, she discovered a strange scene, and reported a break-and-enter to police on Sept. 5, 2025.
“There was a fireplace within the residence. It looked like it had a few holes that had been drilled in it, and then one wall that had been breached,” said Hurley.
Behind the fireplace was a large hole in the floor that police say looked like it had been cut and appeared to connect to the suite below.
Police executed a search warrant and say they found the downstairs neighbour “hiding” in his unit.
They also found a ladder from his unit extending up to the hole behind the fireplace in the above residence.
A 46-year-old man is charged with one count of break-and-enter with intent to commit criminal harassment, mischief to property over $5,000, and two counts of disobeying an order.
“At this time, we have no information to believe that the accused did anything other than just enter the residence,” Hurley said.
