FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – A 79-year-old Farmington Hills woman spoke to Local 4 Monday about the terrifying home invasion during which she says a man hit her in the head and tied her up in her living room.
Police said a man came to the woman's door around 1:45 p.m. Thursday near 12 Mile and Middlebelt roads and claimed to be searching for a lost dog.
When she answered the door, the man asked her if she had seen his lost dog. She turned around to get a piece of paper to write down his phone number, and he hit her in the head with a vase full of daffodils, police said.
"Our victim went to the door and the subject said that he was looking for a lost dog and he was going to leave his phone number with her," Farmington Hills police Chief Charles Nebus said. "So our victim turned around to get a piece of paper and a pen to write down the phone number. She didn't allow him into the house, or know he was in, but suddenly, all of a sudden, he was in the house."
The man tied her up in the living room, removed her jewelry, took a few things from her purse and left the home, police said.
The woman freed herself and called 911. Medical officials treated her at the home and took her to a local hospital.
She said she has eight staples in the back of her head, but she's doing OK.
"He came about a month ago, came here and knocked on the door and said that he had lost his chocolate lab," she said.
That's why the woman said she opened the door when the man knocked, but this time she said the 46-year-old man was looking to rob her. She said he hit her with the vase twice, disorienting her, but not knocking her unconscious.
"He said, 'Give me your wedding ring and your watch,' and took two bracelets, pulled them off my arm," she said. "When I got up, I could see this big pool of blood where I'd been lying, and that's the first time I really knew I was bleeding that much.
"I would have given him what he wanted. He didn't have to hit me."
She has nothing but praise for the Farmington Hills police officers who showed up at her home.
"I just want to say that I have nothing but wonderful accolades for the Farmington Hills Police Department," she said.
The accused 46-year-old man was taken into custody less than 24 hours after the incident. The jewelry wasn't recovered.
The woman said she would like to get her ring back.