Pittsburgh woman uses curtain rod to chase off intruder who broke into home posing as Pa. state police
Pittsburgh woman fends off intruder claiming to be state police with curtain rod
PITTSBURGH —
Pittsburgh police are investigating a home invasion in the city’s Greenfield neighborhood.
Maddy Durmis, one of the residents, said she was awakened just after midnight Wednesday by the sound of a crash and ran into the hallway to investigate.
“I just remember seeing a strange man in my house and being like, Oh, hell no,” Durmis said.
Durmis said the crashing sound was her front door, which was still deadbolted, ripped from its hinges, and lying in the entryway.
“I see a man start to come up the steps, and I make eye contact, and I say, ‘Who are you?’ And he goes, ‘State police, you’re under arrest.’ And he started to come up a little bit closer. I gave him a little shove, and he goes down, and he starts running,” Durmis said.
Durmis said she grabbed a curtain rod and chased the man down the sidewalk.
“I have it in my hand. And we make it to, like, right about here where I trip on my bottom step. And when I fall, I fall onto the sidewalk, and I can see him running down around the corner,” she said.
Pittsburgh police said the man ran toward Murray Avenue.
The man fled with only her car keys, but her roommate guarded the car until police arrived.
“We had about four to five officers here. They were walking around looking for him to see if they could find him. They had the crime unit come and look to see if they could get any prints,” Durmis said.
Durmis described the man as thin, 5 feet 8 inches tall, around 150 pounds, with short brown hair. She said he was wearing a black tank top and dark jeans.
“I’ve never seen him before. And, like, we will sit on our porch, and we’ll do, like, the little people. Watch me. You know, like our neighbors. We know what they look like. We know their pets. We’ve never seen him before,” Durmis said.
Police said no arrests have been made, but the investigation is ongoing.
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