Attacker escapes after being locked in house

A Port Elizabeth woman managed to fend off an attacker on Friday and locked him inside her house for a time.

Thapelo Nkomo, 24, was watching TV at her Bridgemead home when a man stuck his head through the window.

“He opened the curtain right behind me. When he saw I was there, he started swearing at me.

“He grabbed me by my hair and began hitting me,” she said.

Nkomo tried to fight back and close the window. “I freed myself and ran for the panic button.

“I decided to go outside and locked him inside the house.”

She said the man managed to get out of the house and chased her down Donovan Crescent.

“I screamed for help and my neighbours came out. The man ran into the bushes.”

She said the man managed to steal her cellphone from the couch during the scuffle.

“I still don’t understand how he managed to get through the burglar bars,” Nkomo said.

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg confirmed the 2pm incident.