87-year-old woman fights off pantsless intruder, feeds home invader peanut butter and crackers while waiting for cops: 'Don't sit and cry about it'



An 87-year-old woman fought off a home invader – then fed the pantsless intruder snacks while waiting for cops, according to local reports in Maine.

Marjorie Perkins was awakened around 2 a.m. on July 26 to a person standing above her bed.

"I woke up to see a male standing over me by my bed, telling me he was going to cut me," Perkins told News Center Maine.

The retired teacher said she jumped out of bed and put on her shoes "real fast" so she was "ready to kick."

"I thought to myself, ‘If he’s going to cut, I’m going to kick.’ So I jumped into my shoes,” she told the Times Record.

The intruder grabbed Perkins by the shoulders and shoved her against the wall. The intruder punched her in the forehead, causing a bruise.

Perkins said she picked up a chair for self-defense and "kept hitting him" with it. She said, "Thank God I had the chair between us. It would’ve been worse."

The home intruder then retreated to the kitchen at the home in Brunswick, Maine.

The home invader told Perkins that he was "very hungry," so she gave him peanut butter and crackers.

"I kept saying, ‘You need to get out. You need help,'" Perkins said. "He said he was awfully hungry and hadn’t had anything to eat for quite a while. And I said, 'Well, here’s a box of peanut butter and honey crackers. You can have that whole box.' I gave him two containers of Ensure and I gave him two tangerines."

While the intruder was eating, Perkins called the police from a rotary phone "as fast as [she] could."

The intruder escaped the home before the police arrived. However, a dog with the Brunswick Police Department tracked down the suspect a few blocks away.

Perkins said the suspect was 17 years old and was carrying a water bottle full of alcohol.

The suspect was taken to the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland. He faces charges of burglary, criminal threatening, assault, and consuming liquor as a minor.

Authorities have declined to identify the intruder.

Police said the intruder's pants, shoes, and a knife were found near a window air conditioning unit – where the home invader is suspected of breaking into the house. The teen is believed to have moved the air conditioner's side panel and snuck into the home through the gap.

A neighbor gave Perkins a bat and had a worker reinforce the air conditioner side panel with screws.

When it comes to home invasions, Perkins said people can't play the victim and need to be ready to fight.

"Don't sit and cry about it. … Be ready to kick and pick up a chair and hit somebody with it," Perkins said while laughing.

Perkins said of her attacker, "I hope he gets help."

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Woman says Wordle saved her life after home invader broke in and held her hostage for 17 hours



An elderly woman from Chicago, Illinois, is crediting local law enforcement and the popular online game, Wordle, for playing key parts in saving her life after a disturbed man broke into her home and held her hostage for 17 hours.

What happened?

Denyse Holt, 80, recounted the harrowing experience to WBBM-TV this week. She had reportedly been lying asleep in bed when a strange naked man shattered a window and entered her Lincolnwood home on Monday, Feb. 6.

The intruder, later identified as 32-year-old James H. Davis III, approached Holt and got into bed with her. Then he ordered her to take a shower with him, and then a bath.

After that, the troubled kidnapper led Holt around her own home, grabbing knives, disconnecting phones, and leaving trails of blood from the open wounds he suffered while breaking in. Holt said she just tried to remain calm.

"I was trying to survive that’s all," Holt said. "He said, ‘I won’t harm you or molest you.'"

Eventually, he shut her in the basement bathroom and barricaded the door. For the next several hours, Holt remained in the darkness of the bathroom. She said marched and stretched as much as she could, nervously passing the time.

"I didn’t think I was going to live," Holt recalled.

'I Didn’t Think I Was Going To Live' www.youtube.com

Then what?

Meanwhile, her family was beginning to suspect that something was off.

Her oldest daughter, Meredith Holt-Caldwell, who lives in Seattle, saw that her mother was not reading her texts and also hadn't sent her an update that morning about Wordle. The online word game generates a new five-letter word every day for users to guess using clues and the process of elimination.

"I didn’t send my older daughter a Wordle in the morning, and that was disconcerting to her," Holt explained to WBBM.

Convinced that something was wrong, friends and family called Lincolnwood police and asked them to perform a welfare check.

When police arrived at the home at approximately 9:40 p.m. Monday night, they realized that an intruder had entered. An hours-long standoff ensued, but eventually, the SWAT team charged into the home and subdued Davis.

What else?

Davis is now reportedly in custody under felony charges of home invasion with a dangerous weapon, aggravated kidnapping while armed with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault against a peace officer.

Holt's daughter told the news outlet, "I never thought in a million years this is what was happening, but it was."

Holt added, "I’m very lucky," but wanted to make sure to thank the law enforcement officers who rescued her.

"I can’t say enough good things. They were beyond wonderful," she said.

Commenters are calling the story a helpful reminder to stay in touch with loved ones.

Home invader in Portland charged police with a sword before hurling an axe and several knives at them, authorities say



A criminal in Portland, Oregon, was arrested over the weekend after allegedly breaking into a home and threatening responding officers with a sword and axe, police said.

What happened?

According to the Portland Police Bureau, 20-year-old Chance T. Haylett broke into a home in the northeast part of the city on Saturday while brandishing a sword and several other bladed weapons.

Neighbors reportedly alerted law enforcement officers after witnessing Haylett trying to open doors and windows to the house. Thankfully, the residents of the home were not present at the time of the break-in.

When officers arrived on the scene, they encountered a hostile suspect. Haylett became "combative," police recalled in a news release, "charging out the back towards officers on the perimeter while carrying a sword."

Police were able to partially de-escalate the situation by firing a less lethal foam-tip bullet at Haylett, but he still continued to threaten officers with the sword from a distance. At one point, Haylett hurled an axe and several other bladed weapons at the officers, but they were able to dodge the attacks.

After firing another foam-tip bullet at the Haylett, officers were able to move in and apprehend the suspect. In the press release, officers said they "were able to utilize de-escalation skills, develop rapport, and convince the suspect to drop his weapons and surrender."

Photo description: Numerous bladed weapons are displayed on the ground, including a sword, ax, and multiple knivesImage Source: Portland Police Bureau

What else?

Following the incident, Haylett was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. In all, police found he had been in possession of 15 weapons, including a sword, an axe, several knives — and yes, even a slingshot.

Haylett has since been booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of burglary in the first degree, criminal trespass in the first degree, criminal mischief in the first degree, felon in possession of a restricted weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon. Police reported that no one was injured in the altercation.

The Macon Telegraph reported that he was arraigned Monday afternoon and was being held on $65,000 bond. But jail records indicate Haylett made bail and was released on his own recognizance Monday.