Woman Fights Off Intruder: 'I Fought Him Off As Hard As I Could'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A woman who fought off a man who broke into her house and attacked her is speaking out and sending a message to warn others.
"I had no weapons," she said. "I had nothing to defend myself except my own will and my right to live."
NewsRadio 830 WCCO's Edgar Linares Reports
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Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said deputies were dispatched to the home around 10:46 a.m. Wednesday on the 900 block of Santa Vera Drive in Chanhassen on a report of a first-degree burglary and assault.
When they arrived, they found the suspect must have forced his way into the home through the front door, which was locked at the time.
The woman inside the residence said she was able to fight off the burglar and escape. The man then fled the scene.
The woman, who requested to remain anonymous, said she wants to send a message and a warning to other women.
She said around 10 a.m., her gut told her something was wrong. She woke up right away, lying in bed and found a man standing in her doorway, wearing blue latex gloves.
"He had a roll of duct tape in his hands. And I said 'Hello,' and he says 'Hi,' really nicely, very calmly -- and attacked me on my bed. I got away. I fought him off," she said.
She said she began throwing things at him, anything she could find and ran downstairs. That's when she realized that he had already been there.
"Once I got downstairs I reached for a knife that's always in my knife block in my kitchen, where it should always be, next to my toaster, next to the butter, and it wasn't there. He had hid the knives," she said.
That's when he pinned her on the couch, tried to duct tape her face and flipped her over.
"From then, I just screamed as loud as I could, fought him off as hard as I could," she said. "I kicked him in the groin region, then he tried to smother my face with a pillow. He tried to suffocate me to get me to be quiet, and I wasn't having him, so I kicked him again. I kicked him in the stomach, then I kicked in the neck. Then he got scared because I was being a vicious wild animal fighting for my life. He got scared, ran out the front door and went to the right side."
She said she wants to warn other women to watch their back -- always be on guard and know, there are dangerous people out there.
"It might look normal, sound normal, but something's going on in peoples' heads that's very evil. Just be careful and watch your back," she said. "Do not think for one second that you're safe 100 percent of the time because you live in the suburbs, or your family lives right down the street or anything."
The suspect is described as a white man, approximately 25 years old, about 6-foot-1 to 6-foot-2 with a stocky build, brown hair and clean shaven. He was last seen wearing a light blue shirt and khaki-colored cargo pants. A sketch of the man is included above.
Carver County Chief Deputy Sheriff Blair Anderson says authorities believe this is random.
"We want to make that clear so residents aren't panicking," said Anderson. " We got a very good description from the victim."
The Carver County Sheriff's Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is actively investigating the incident.
