LIVONIA, Mich. – A Livonia woman says she fought off a masked man who appeared to be trying to break into her family’s home in the area of Newburgh Road and Six Mile Road early Wednesday.
Police are asking neighbors to report anything suspicious as investigators work to identify the suspect.
Victoria Williams said when she got home from work, she initially didn’t notice a notification from her family’s Ring camera facing their deck. As she prepared to let her dog out, she realized something was wrong.
“As soon as I unlocked the cage, he bolted to the door and started barking just like this mean bark, and I turn around from the cage, and I just see this blur of white go by the door,” Williams said.
Security video captured a man dressed in a coverall suit with boot covers, a mask, and gloves. In the video, the man is seen carrying a backpack and a screwdriver.
When Williams went outside to see what was going on, she ran into the man and asked what he was doing.
“He was like, ‘I’m just checking something for somebody.’ I said, ‘I don’t know who you are,’ and in the meantime I’m hitting the 911 on my phone,” Williams said.
While she was on the phone with 911, Williams said the man grabbed her by the neck as he tried to push through the family’s fence to get away.
After a struggle, Williams said the man broke through the fence and ran off. Security video captured the suspect running away from the house, and police later found some of his clothing in a nearby trash can.
Victoria’s parents, Bill and Kim Williams, said they received a call no parent wants to get.
“It’s a very scary thing for a parent to get a call that someone’s trying to break into our house and tussled with me on the side while I was talking to 911,” Bill Williams said.
Police have not identified the suspect and are urging residents in the area to report suspicious activity. The family said they are sharing their experience to warn others to trust their instincts and speak up.
“Speak up and if you’re wrong, you’re wrong, but who knows you might be right and preventing something for somebody else,” Williams said.
“A minute or two one way or the other, and it could have been a very, very different story,” Bill Williams said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Livonia Police Department at 734-466-2470.