The stuff of nightmares: Venice, California resident Melora Rivera is seen in the foreground as a homeless man who broke into her home lunges out onto the roof where she'd fled in fear
Police arrived on the scene just minutes after Rivera's frantic call as she hid beneath an eave of the roof.
An area blogger snapped a photo just as the itinerant, later ID'd by police as 29-year-old Christian Hicks, lurched onto the roof behind her.
It was a moment borne of nightmares. But brave Rivera kept her composure.
'I knew that I didn’t want to have a confrontation with him of any sort, you know, not knowing what his intention was,' she told CBS LA.
In spite of her composure, Rivera--who works in showbiz and had a small role the 2012 Whitney Houston film Sparkle--revealed that she did have at least one overarching fear as she clung to the roof.
Helping hand: Authorities arrived just minutes after the terrifying photo was taken
The lovely Ms. Rivera was in bed when the intruder entered her home. The Atlanta native has appeared in several films including the Whitney Houston movie Sparkle
'It was my biggest fear was that he was going to be forced by the cops to come hide in basically the same place I was hiding,' Rivera said.
Lucky for her, that didn't happen. Police managed to coax the intruder down after giving Rivera a ladder on which she could climb to safety.
Even as Rivera was still reeling Wednesday from the experience, she worried for people like Hicks in her neighborhood.
She told CBS LA:
'I think it’s very obvious for most of us who live around here, when someone seems to be suffering from a mental illness, and to continue to let these people walk around without offering them assistance, to protect them and us. That, I think, is the heart of the problem.'
Taken into custody: The man was eventually coaxed down by police. Hicks' bail has been set at $50,000
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