SALEM, MASS. (WHDH) - A man sat down with 7NEWS to discuss what it was like to come face-to-face with a would-be burglar inside his Salisbury vacation home.
Surveillance video captured a man casing Ken Nelson’s Atlantic Avenue home.
“I am in a very dazed state, trying to fall asleep,” he explained. “I heard what sounded like an animal in the kitchen.”
Nelson got out of bed and to his surprise, found a man outside his bedroom.
“At that point, I was like, I’m not going to let him get the jump on me,” Nelson said.
So, he acted on instinct.
“Let’s face it. I was an old, fat, naked, guy in my house. I had no idea what was on the other side of that wall,” he said. “I put my arms up and I charged him and started screaming.”
The burglar, who appeared to be as surprised as Nelson, fled the house by jumping out of the front window then bolting down the street.
“Do I think he should have got a beatdown? Absolutely. If I caught him I would have done my best,” Nelson said.
Salisbury and state police swarmed the neighborhood but the man was able to get away. Investigators say are beefing up patrols in the area.
“By me putting the surprise on him instead of him on me, I think this outcome could have been worse if I didn’t do what I did,” said Nelson.
Anyone with information regarding the suspect’s whereabouts is urged to call police.
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