Mike on Crime

By Gabrielle Giroday
Winnipeg Free Press

She awoke to find a stranger opening her bedroom door, so the petite teen quickly sent her parents a text message for help, fought off the intruder and stopped him from turning his attention toward her little sister.

“I told her she’s strong, she’s brave, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She’s a survivor,” the girl’s 35-year-old mother said Monday evening, a few days after the family was terrorized by a man they didn’t know.

The bizarre and frightening home invasion happened early Saturday in the Weston area.

As the terrified mother and father rushed to the upstairs bedroom where their 14-year-old and nine-year-old daughters slept, the struggle between the teen and the intruder continued.

The knife-wielding stranger had entered her bedroom and tried to pin her to the bed, screaming that he would kill her. But the 100-pound teen fought him off, kicking and scratching, until her frantic parents arrived.

The girl’s father chased the man as he darted from the home, but lost track of him in the dark.

Now, police are looking for the suspect in the brazen home invasion and assault, which investigators believe was a random attack.

“It just completely disgusts me,” said the woman, who fears the man is still in the neighbourhood. “(It’s) horrible. I don’t want her to go to school. I don’t want her out of my sight.

“My nine-year-old can’t even sleep. They won’t even go in the bedroom.”

The parents didn’t want their daughters to be interviewed.

The two girls huddled in the living room watching television Monday evening, politely smiling and shaking a reporter’s hand when commended for their bravery during the ordeal.

It began shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday when the woman left the front door of the Pacific Avenue bungalow unlocked for her 20-year-old daughter, who was expected home within minutes.

A short time later, when someone did walk through the door, family members assumed the oldest daughter had come home.

The parents were downstairs and heard someone shuffling around the kitchen above them.

Moments later, their 14-year-old daughter was shocked to see the man flip on her bedroom light, quickly close the door and move to another part of the house, giving her just enough time to send a text message to her parents.

But the man came back to the bedroom, this time with a steak knife he’d grabbed from the kitchen.

He attacked the teen, waking her younger sister as the bed smashed against the wall.

“She kicked the wall and pushed her bed away from the wall, and she took him to the ground… and he was a big boy,” the mom said.

“They found (the knife) on the floor beside the bed.”

The teenager’s ribs were bruised and she suffered a large scratch on her arm.

The mother said she believes the man, who was in the house for less than five minutes, was high on drugs.

“(Police) said there are some new drugs on the street that are making people nuts,” she said.

The family said the man defecated on the front porch so police have samples of his DNA.

She said parents should ensure their doors are locked at all times.

“I’m going to make god-damned sure my alarm’s on all the time,” she said.

She also urged the suspect to turn himself in.

“My daughter’s gorgeous,” she said. “Maybe he’s watched her.”

Officers from the Winnipeg Police Service sex-crimes unit are handling the investigation.

The suspect is described as Asian or aboriginal, about 20 years of age and about six feet tall.

He has a dark complexion, medium build and long dark hair. He wore a black tuque, black pants and a white hoodie with black graphics.

Anyone with information is encourage to call 986-6245 or CrimeStoppers at 780-8477.