19-Year-Old Stabbed In Neck During Melrose Home Invasion

MELROSE (CBS) – A 19-year-old girl was slashed during a home invasion in Melrose early Wednesday morning. She suffered a knife wound to the neck after a man entered her home on Lynde Street and demanded items from her.

It happened at about 2:50 a.m. Police are still searching for the suspect.

The girl's father is left numb from the attack. "A stranger just walks into your house and holds a knife over your daughter. How can you process that?" William Westgate said.

"She got a stab wound to the throat. She was cut in the back of her head. She has a slash on the top of her head and she also has a puncture wound on her shoulder."

Westgate said the suspect took a knife from their kitchen. "Luckily it was one of the dullest ones in the drawer and he went into my daughter's room," Westgate said.

He stole her purse and ran out of the house. The teen was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

Melrose Police say the suspect was caught on surveillance attempting to break into another home after he attacked the teenager. He is suspected in several other attempted home break-ins and two car thefts in the same area. In all incidents the doors were left unlocked.

Police urged residents to lock their homes and vehicles.