By David Sharp
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’s he's going to cut, then I’m going to kick,” she said.
She put on her shoes and fought back, putting a chair between them as the two jostled in her Brunswick home. 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 and 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, 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 they 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.
Cheddar News senior reporter Chloe Aiello breaks down the basics of keeping kids safe on social media.
On this edition of Stretching Your Dollar, certified financial planner and author Larry Sprung offers his tips on how to start saving for retirement early.
Cheddar's new series' Crime Files' airs a new episode every Monday. Tonight's episode "Justice Delayed" looks at the case of Edward Bullock, a New Jersey sheriff who abused children in his custody for decades. Senior investigative reporter Walt Kane breaks it down.
Guinness World Records says the world’s oldest dog recently celebrated his 31st birthday. Bobi's owner says a party was held Saturday for the purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, a breed of Portuguese dog.
According to the Social Security Administration's 2022 list, Liam and Olivia remained the most popular names for the third year in a row. Other names in the top included Noah, Emma, Charlotte, James, Oliver, and Amelia.
A university professor broke a record for the longest time living underwater without depressurization this weekend at a Florida Keys lodge for scuba divers.
A shooting at a neighborhood gathering in Arizona left two people dead and five wounded, police said Sunday.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has experienced the most significant disruption to its operations in 27 years due to what the newspaper calls a cyberattack.
The death toll linked to a doomsday cult in Kenya hit 201 Saturday after police exhumed 22 more bodies, most of them bearing signs of starvation, according to the coast regional commissioner.
Cheddar News' senior reporter Chloe Aiello breaks down what's behind the growing popularity of shortening the school week to four days, which echoes more widespread calls to shorten the work week.
