MELROSE, MASS. (WHDH) - Police in Melrose are turning to the public for help identifying a man who allegedly stabbed a 19-year-old woman in the neck during a violent home invasion early Wednesday morning.
Officers responding to a reported home invasion at a home on Lynde Street shortly before 3 a.m. learned a man had entered the home and grabbed a kitchen knife, according to the Melrose Police Department.
The man then made his way into the teen’s room and demanded her keys before the two began fighting, police said.
Her father, William Westgate, told 7NEWS that he woke up to his daughter’s screams.
“I race down, I get to the bottom of the stairs, and my daughter was halfway down the street chasing somebody saying he’s got my pocketbook,” he said.
Westgate said when his daughter turned around, they both realized she had been stabbed.
“She’s got the stab wound to the throat, she was cut in the back of her head, she has a slash on the top of her head, and she’s also got a puncture wound on her shoulder,” he explained.
She was transported to an area hospital to undergo treatment and is now recovering.
“Just numb…We’re both numb,” Westgate said. “We haven’t processed it yet. How can you process something like that? There’s a stranger that just walks into your house and holds a knife over your daughter.”
Investigators are also looking into reports of attempted home and car break-ins in the area on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, as well as a pair of vehicle thefts, including one in which the keyless start keyfob was left inside the vehicle.
Police say in each successful break-in, the owner’s doors were left unlocked.
“I cannot stress enough how significant a step the simple act of locking your home and vehicle doors can be in preventing you from becoming a victim of crime,” Melrose Police Chief Michael Lyle said. “I urge all residents to remember to lock their homes and vehicles.”
Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact the Melrose Police Department at 781-665-1212.
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