Homeless Woman Got Accidentally Locked In Bergen County Grocery Store: Police

GLEN ROCK, NJ — A homeless woman accidentally got locked in a grocery store in Glen Rock on Sunday night, police said.

Police in that Bergen County town said they headed to Food Universe Marketplace on Lincoln Avenue at 9:40 p.m. to investigate a burglar alarm.

They said they found a woman, 28, who was homeless. She had just exited the store, police said.

"The woman, who was cooperative with the officers, recounted that she was using the restroom near closing time after checking with a store employee," police said. "When she exited the restroom, she found that the store had been closed for the night and no staff members were present."

The woman could not find the kind employee who helped her out, or anyone else, so she unlocked the front door to leave — thus triggering the alarm, police said.

"The store manager responded to the scene reviewing video surveillance footage which corroborated what the woman had recounted to the officers," police said.

Police offered the woman assistance in finding shelter for the evening, they said. But she declined and left.

Finding the right kind of shelter isn't easy, even with facilities and a hotline existing, North Jersey residents have said. Find out what happened when one woman tried calling 211 in order to help out someone who was homeless with a dog, here.

Bergen County has temporary cooling centers during heat waves, and opened several last week See where the area cooling centers and shelters are here.