SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – The hunt is on for a man who Southfield police said broke into a house in broad daylight and starting punching the man who lives there.
Police released a sketch of the suspect Monday, even though the violent home invasion happened July 29. They're hoping the sketch will help them find the man and put him behind bars.
Neighbors said it's a top priority to help police find the man and help the couple, who have lived in the home for years. They have also ramped up their neighborhood watch program.
The 67-year-old man was napping on the couch while his 74-year-old wife played a game on her Kindle. Then, suddenly, their dead-bolted front door came busting open.
The young man in the sketch charged in and immediately started punching the man, and when the victim's wife tried to call 911, he hit her with the phone before running out the back door.
Neighbors are on high alert after the incident.
"It puts my peepers up because, like I say, we don't have stuff around here," neighbor Pat said. "We lived her 20 years and we don't have stuff like that happen around here."
"Wait on them to come to your house because they're going to be in trouble if they step into my house, because I have family," neighbor Eric Vance said.
Neighbors said the couple is harmless.
"To have somebody come in and kick the door down on this old couple, I mean, they are a harmless old couple," Pat said.
"Doing crime, any time you get to a women, children or old people, you shouldn't get a break," Vance said. "At all."
Neighbors said the couple is very shaken up, but happy to be alive.