Woman awakes to intruder in bedroom

FISHERS, Ind. (WISH) - A Fishers woman was startled to find a masked man had broken into her home while she was asleep Thursday night.

The home invasion happened in the Avalon subdivision near 126th Street and Olio Road, in the 13100 block of Cresswell Place.

Police said the suspect stole jewelry and a laptop from the homeowner.

The suspect broke a basement window to get into the house sometime around 10:30 p.m..

A next door neighbor and her husband were awake when it happened.

"It shows you can be home and your neighbor is broken into, and we didn't hear a thing,” Brith Seland said. “It's just really scary."

According to police, the suspect headed to the master bedroom where the homeowner, an elderly woman, was asleep.

The thief demanded money from the homeowner, pushed her into the master bathroom, and then shut the door.

Police said the homeowner stayed in her bathroom until she thought the suspect was gone, then ran to her home alarm system keypad, hit the panic button, and ran back to her bathroom, where she locked herself in until police arrived.

"To have the presence of mind to hit the panic button to get some emergency services started in her direction, that was very smart," said Fishers Police Officer Tom Weger.

The homeowner was not physically harmed, but she was too upset to talk on camera about what happened.

Police say the suspect is between 5’9 to 5’10 with a thin build, wearing dark pants, a gray hooded sweatshirt and a dark mask or scarf over his face.
Detectives have at least one place to go when it comes to the investigation. Last week, the homeowner hired some painting contractors to work on the outside of the home. Police plan to talk to everyone who has had contact with the homeowner in the past two weeks.

Anyone with information regarding this case should call 317-595-3300.