Jenny Harris tells how she fought off the burglar at her flat
Woman shoves burglar off ledge
Durban: Fed up with crime, an Umbilo woman wrestled with a cat burglar who had climbed through the bedroom window of her second-floor flat, before shoving him off a ledge while he was trying to escape.
Prospect Road resident Jennifer Harris, 55, said she had been watching a movie on her laptop at 1.15am on Sunday when she saw a man climb on to her window ledge.
The burglar had used an aluminium garden stool to climb up on to an air conditioner unit to reach the window.
A victim of four petty robberies, including a mugging in Durban, Harris was not about to take the break-in lying down.
“I heard him breathe out as he came on to the ledge. It was a steep climb. He was out of breath. Instinctively, I was up and on to him before he could step into the room.
“We wrestled on the bed as I tried to prevent him from grabbing my handbag and laptop. He thought he could grab something and get out,” said the retired estate agent and widow.
Fleeing a beating, the burglar made for the window through which he had come in.
Harris said on his way to the window, the burglar grabbed her computer’s external hard drive.
“His foot was on the air con box below the window and his body was almost out of the window. I grabbed his hooded jacket from behind and told him, ‘You’re not taking this, you bastard!’
“This was the last straw. I held on to him with all my strength. I screamed so loud, I thought neighbours would rush to my aid and arrest the guy,” she said.
Harris was not prepared to give up. She held on for several minutes until her hand became sore. Realising no one was responding to her screams for help, she decided to let him go.
“I told him, ‘you are going down much harder than you came up’. With all my strength, I shoved him off the ledge. He landed with a thud on some bricks in the garden and let out a few cries of pain. He then hobbled and jumped over a fence,” Harris said.
The man had fallen 6m.
Harris has been left with muscle pains and bruises on her body. She has also lost her voice from screaming.
Harris has not slept well since the incident and now keeps a kitchen knife under her pillow. She found her hard drive on the ground near the fence. However, the burglar got away with her purse containing cash and cards.
Harris said she did not want to spoil her view of the city and harbour, but now planned to install burglar bars. She intends adding additional lighting to the outside of the building.
Harris urged people to be more vigilant because, she said, she had been living with a false sense of security.
She was fortunate the burglar did not attack her, although she saw no signs that he was armed. She described the incident as opportunistic.
Umbilo police are investigating. No arrest had been made http://mobi.iol.co.za/#!/article/woman-shoves-burglar-off-ledge-during-scuffle-1.1912721
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