Victim of March 1 home invasion speaks out

Managing Editor

A young Thomaston wife and mother says what she experienced on the morning of March 1 was nothing short of a nightmare.

Angel Salter had not been awake long when she realized she was not home alone.

“I was asleep and my friend called around 9 o'clock and woke me up,” said the mother of one. “After hanging up with her, I made my way down the hall, still half asleep, into the kitchen and got a drink of water. I had to go to the bathroom, so I went back into the hall and noticed a man bending over in there. For a split second I thought, why is Rick not at work? Then as the man turned to look at me, maybe startled by the sound, I realized this was not my husband, but a stranger in his clothes.

Salter says what happened next is a blur.

“I remember thinking, I've got to get to the bedroom and call for help,” said Salter.

Earlier in the year, the Salters had put deadbolts on their bedroom door because the couple heard sounds outside their home on several occasions. More than once, they had called the police department because of the disturbances. Although the authorities responded to their calls, nothing or no one could be found to explain away the noises.

“All I remember, is locking the door behind me and checking it repeatedly as I called 911 on the cordless,” she said. “For a brief moment, I was afraid he would pick up on the extension in the den and foil my attempt to call for help, but when I heard a dialtone and then a voice, I screamed for them to send someone because there was a man in my house.”

The young mother says as she was speaking to the 911 operator, the man turned the door handle and attempted to gain entry. Finding it locked, he politely knocked and mumbled something from behind the door. Realizing she was not going to let him in, the man walked away from the door and down the hall.

“I could hear him walk away and thought what is going to do, is he going to come back? So many thoughts were racing through my head,” she said, as she relived the trauma. “Even when the lady on the phone said you can open the door the police are there, you can come out, I still wouldn't move. It was only after I heard them yelling at him that I made my way into the other part of the house.”

According to Salter, the strange man had let police into the home. He had been sitting at the kitchen table when they arrived at the scene.

Arrested was 39-year-old Mark Edward Cooper. He has been charged with burglary and probation violation.

Cooper is not a stranger to some of local law enforcement.

As a juvenile, he stabbed and killed another youngster at a local gameroom in 1984 after they exchanged words over a girl and an argument ensued. Cooper served time in a Harbersham County prison on voluntary manslaughter. He was released in March of 2000.

“As the police were arresting him, I heard one of them say they knew who he was,” said Salter. “He said, ‘That's Mark Cooper, he murdered somebody back in the 80's.' That's when I started to have a panic attack. Murder? What were his intentions at my house? Was he going to try and kill me?”

Salter says the man explained to police he thought he was at a friends home on B Street. Police told Salter, the former prisoner appeared to be on drugs.

“The police said they thought he could have been in the house for over an hour before I realized he was there,” she said. “Not only had he taken a bath and put on my husband's clothes, dirty ones from the hamper at that, he had eaten biscuits from the freezer, enjoyed a Sunkist and also brushed his teeth. He had also been through the medicine cabinet, because there was medication strewn all over the house. There was actually a bottle of Urised on top of his dirty clothes he had left in the bathroom.”

Because of her panicked state, Salter was driven to the hospital by a friend although an ambulance had responded to the scene. Once home, the task of cleaning up began.

“We noticed some blood spots tracked over the house,” Salter said. “Maybe he had cut himself before he even got into the house, I don't know, I just wanted all traces of him out of my home. His muddy Wrangler jeans were still draped over the computer chair. We put them in a trashbag and put them on the porch for the police to come pick up. Later, we went to the store and bought bleach to clean up the blood, new towels, soap, toothbrushes and anything else he may have touched in the bathroom.”

Salter says although the ordeal is over, the fear still lingers.

“I thought he was there to attack me,” she said quietly. “His movements were so deliberate as he came down the hall behind me. Had he been in my bedroom before I had woke up? Did he see me walk down the hall before I saw him? What if my son had been home? I can't quit thinking about it. I'm thankful for the locks because they quite possibility saved my life. Also, I want to say how grateful I am to the Thomaston Police for responding so quickly, doing such a great job, and comforting me after it all happened until my family got to my house. It was like something out of a horror movie. You never think something like this could happen to you. I am here to say, think twice.”