Maine woman, 87, fights off home invader, then feeds him in her kitchen

An 87-year-old Maine woman ably fought off a teenage attacker, then fed him because he said he was "awfully hungry."

Marjorie Perkins said she awoke at 2 a.m. on July 26 and saw the young man standing over her bed. He had shed his shirt and pants and told her he was going to cut her.

"I thought to myself, 'If he's going to cut, I'm going to kick.' So I jumped into my shoes," she told the Times Record.

She put on her shoes and fought back, putting a chair between them as the two jostled in her Brunswick home.

"I was hollering for help out the window," she told the Times Record. "Thank God I had the chair between us. It would've been worse."

The intruder struck her on the cheek and forehead before switching tactics and heading for the kitchen. He told Perkins that he was "awfully hungry," she said.

So, she gave him a box of peanut butter and honey crackers, two protein drinks and two tangerines.

Perkins dialed 911 on her rotary phone.

"I dialed as fast as I could," she told the Times Record.

She was talking to a dispatcher while the intruder collected his pants and left. He left behind a knife, shirt, shoes and a water bottle containing alcohol, she said.

Perkins told Maine News Now that there is no reason to show her sympathy.

"Don't sit and cry about it," she told the station. "If it comes up again, do it again."

Perkins, who has become a bit of an international celebrity since the attack, said she still feels safe in the home where she's resided for 42 years, but worries about rampant crime. She said it seems to have gotten worse over the past few years and that criminals don't fear going to jail.

"I think our law has just folded up," she said. "People aren't afraid of anything anymore. They feel they can do as they please."

Police said in a news release that an officer and K-9 dog quickly tracked down the teenager and charged him with burglary, criminal threatening, assault and consuming liquor as a minor. Authorities did not release his identity because of his age. They said the teen was staying a few blocks away from the victim.

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• Maine