An 87-year-old woman in the United States fought off a teenage attacker then fed him because he said he was “awfully hungry”.
Marjorie Perkins, from Brunswick in Maine, said she awoke at 2am on July 26 and saw the young man standing over her bed. He had taken off his shirt and pants and told her he was going to cut her.
“I thought to myself, if’s he’s going to cut, then I’m going to kick,” she said.
She put on her shoes and fought back, putting a chair between them as the two jostled.
The intruder struck her on the cheek and forehead before switching tactics and heading for the kitchen. He told Ms Perkins that he was “awfully hungry”, she said.
She gave him a box of peanut butter and honey crackers, two protein drinks and two tangerines.
Ms Perkins dialled 911 on her rotary phone and was talking to a dispatcher while the intruder collected his pants and left. He left behind a knife, shirt, shoes and a water bottle containing alcohol, she said.
Ms Perkins said she still feels safe in the home where she has lived for 42 years, but worries about rampant crime. She said it seems to have become worse over the past few years and that criminals do not fear going to jail.
“I think our law has just folded up,” she said. “People aren’t afraid of anything anymore. They feel they can do as they please.”
Police quickly tracked down the teenager and charged him with burglary, criminal threatening, assault and consuming liquor as a minor, news outlets reported. Authorities did not release his identity because of his age.
