wild or stray rat?

Question
A rat came in our open bedroom window and placed a paw on my wife's arm while she was snoozing with the lights on.  She opened her eyes to see a good size but kinda cute rodent peering over her arm to look at her.  She screamed and it ran in the closet. Because it seemed so curious, she thought it might be a juvenile squirrel.  When I got in the closet to catch it, it was clearly a rat.  Even then, it kept peeping out like it was checking me out, and it didn't strike me as aggressive even though I kept going after it with a bucket and broom.

I finally caught it and released it a half mile away.

It had the coloring of a field mouse--tannish on top with a light belly and a very long furless tail.  It fits the description of a roof rat, except that it was not dark.  A few images on the web do show a lighter version that looks a lot like it.  We live in an urban neighborhood in Oakland, CA, and roof rats are on the rise.  But its behavior made us feel like it might be someone's pet.  Would a wild rat act this way?  Do we have a problem?

Answer
Contrary to popular belief, wild rats are not aggressive in the least. They are all the same, curious by nature and shy, never ever will they attack a human being...they are not dumb by far and know they would not stand a chance to survive by attacking anything larger than they are. They would rather run than attack.  So many myths about rats attacking people still make me laugh. It COULD have been someones pet, I have had rats look like that that were fancy rats but I also had a wild rat I kept as a pet that lived to be four years old (My Holly girl!) This rat was probably a wild rat but just confused you because you have probably been taught your whole life that rats are aggressive, dirty, flea infested, gnarly little beasts with beady red glowing eyes and huge fangs dripping with ooze ready to attack and infect anything that came near its path.  Seriously...alot of people think that about rats and its so far from the truth, as you have witnessed.  I am glad you didnt hurt it:)  By the way....the squirrel would have probably been more of a threat than the rat.  Trying to corner a squirrel and catch it in the bucket may have resulted in some pretty nasty scratches from it trying to get away. They are far more aggressive than rats ever could be, although I love them too, you cant keep them as pets no matter what because of their hyper personalities.