Imagine pulling into your driveway as tornado warnings ping your phone, only to see an Amazon delivery van parked out front. You step inside and find a blood trail leading through your home. Shattered glass litters the floor. And in the basement? A man you’ve never met, wearing an Amazon vest, sheltering with your children.
That’s exactly what happened to one Redditor. But her nightmare didn’t end there—getting Amazon or its subcontractor to pay for the damages turned out to be as big an ordeal as cleaning up the bloody mess and broken window.
A stranger in the basement
According to Reddit user u/sewalkerdesign, the Amazon driver was out delivering packages when tornado alerts hit. He claimed he knocked on the front door. When no one answered, he assumed the family was already sheltering in the basement.
So he broke in.
“He then went over to a large window and either accidentally or purposely shattered the window,” the homeowner wrote.
Her son, who has special needs, was upstairs when he heard the noise. “Walking downstairs to the first floor he explained seeing a man he didn’t know punching shards of glass from a large window out of his way and then climbing through the opening.”
The driver told the boy he needed to shelter. Not understanding the danger, the child led him into the basement.
The homeowner’s daughter soon came downstairs. She confronted the man over entering her house. The young woman had the foresight to write down the intruder’s personal and company information.
A shocking scene: an Amazon driver sheltering from a tornado
Within five minutes, the homeowner returned. “I arrived home and could see an Amazon delivery truck in front of my house.” Her shattered front window was scattered across the floor. Worse, blood trailed from the front room to the basement. It’s hard to imagine just how terrifying the scene must have been.
“Inside I could see a man in an Amazon vest on his cellphone. His right arm was completely covered in blood.” The driver had deep cuts on his forearm. The homeowner let him wash up, bandaged his arm, and directed him to the nearest ER. Then she spent three hours cleaning up.
Who pays for this?
The next day, she contacted the police and reached out to Amazon’s subcontractor. “They have fought me so hard,” she wrote, “wanting alternative estimates and insisting they should have their preferred contractors come look at it.”
Amazon denied responsibility. The subcontractor stalled. Meanwhile, the homeowner was stuck with the mess.
The homeowner vented: “It doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone do this!! But regardless, it happened all the same.” So she turned to Reddit to ask legal advice.
Who was really at fault?
The Amazon driver was desperate. But was he justified? He could have knocked on other doors to find a resident home. He could have thrown something through the window instead of punching out the glass. Commenters were divided. Some felt he had a legal defense under “private necessity.” But not everyone agreed.
Some pointed out that he had other options. One asked, “This might be relevant or might not be, but….was there actually a tornado or a warning?” Another specified: “A tornado warning is issued when an actual funnel cloud has been spotted..A tornado watch is issued when atmospheric conditions are such that development of a funnel cloud is likely.”
Some felt the driver had overreacted. “Was he literally staring down a tornado?” one commenter asked. Another speculated, “Sounds like the guy has some type of phobia.” Another user countered: “Phobia is an irrational fear. Being scared of tornadoes and trying to seek shelter when a tornado alarm goes off on your phone isn’t a ‘phobia,’ it’s a very rational and very normal response.”
Not everyone was on the homeowner’s side. Some thought she should have been more compassionate. One commenter pointed out that the driver was pale, bleeding, and possibly in shock. “Your response was to kick him out of your house without calling an ambulance?” they asked. “Even after noticing he was becoming pale?”
One comment summed it up: “This whole thing is just a disaster—literally and legally.”
Should Amazon be responsible for the tornado shelter damage?
The homeowner’s biggest frustration wasn’t just the break-in—it was the lack of accountability. “They were not even delivering to my house,” she pointed out. “Just other houses in the neighborhood, but my house was closest to his truck at the time.”
She felt Amazon should step in. But commenters were quick to shut that idea down. “The majority of Amazon drivers are employed by subcontractors,” one user explained. Another added, “Why do you think you need to work with Amazon instead of the contractor?”
With the subcontractor stalling, the homeowner had no clear path forward. “Let your insurance handle this,” one user advised. “They have lawyers.” Another agreed: “Your insurance will go after theirs. It’s called subrogation. Stop worrying about it and GO TO YOUR INSURANCE.”
You can read the original post, embedded below:
An Amazon delivery driver broke into my home and I need legal advice.
byu/sewalkerdesign inlegaladvice
