‘Scared of what he might do': Couple finds half-naked stranger in home after holiday

News.com.au

02-06-2025

A young couple has been left 'shaken' after they returned home from an overseas holiday to find a stranger had been living in their Sydney apartment and had worn their clothes – some of which were reportedly stained with faeces.
Denoora Lyu, a 22-year-old student from the University of Sydney, and her boyfriend William Qu, walked through the door of their inner-city apartment in Pyrmont on February 17 to find Dylan Patrick Yelkovan, 30, standing half-naked in the living room.
After seeing the couple, Mr Yelkovan – dressed in blue shorts, a red cap and no shirt – appeared calm and slowly started packing his belongings in a bag, video footage shows.
'I was just setting up the house,' he appeared to tell the couple in the video.
'Yeah, we are living here,' a male voice replied from behind the camera.
Mr Yelkovan then calmly walked to another room, where he quickly changed in a hi-vis shirt and pants.
When the couple asked him to stay where he was, he put on his shoes and quickly fled out the balcony door.
'I felt really shaken. There was a complete stranger standing in my home, and he wasn't even wearing a shirt. It just didn't seem normal,' Ms Lyu told 7News.
'I kept thinking, what if he had a knife? I was scared of what he might do.'
The couple were staying in the apartment temporarily until they could find a new home for the next semester, while their friend, whose name was on the lease, was overseas, 7News reports.
The building's manger helped detain Mr Yelkovan, who was arrested and taken into police custody after undergoing an assessment at St Vincent's Hospital.
Video footage showed him being led out of a building by two men as police were called.
The couple said their belongings had been rampaged through and strewn across the apartment.
They claimed the toilet was left unflushed and Mr Yelkovan had worn Mr Qu's clothes, some of which were stained with faeces.
'He unpacked every single box and used everything inside, including the desktop computer, which hadn't even been set up at the time,' Ms Lyu said.
'He pulled out all the spare phones that weren't in use but couldn't access them due to passwords.'
Mr Qu's bank card had also been used, with records showing Mr Yelkovan had stayed in the apartment for a week, 7News reports.
Mr Qu's money was later refunded by his bank.
After the incident, the pair spent a week in a hotel while the apartment was professionally cleaned, leaving them $2,000 out of pocket.
Mr Yelkovan was charged with five offences, including one count of break and enter with intent to commit a serious indictable offence and four counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Court documents show the 30-year-old pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, to be served as an Intensive Correction Order (ICO) – which saw him avoid prison time.
Under the order, Mr Yelkovan is required to abstain from drugs and is prohibited from visiting a Pyrmont apartment.
The order expires on December 31.