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Home / New Zealand

Upper Hutt woman shaken after waking to find man in her house

NZ Herald
12 Jan, 2021 02:41 AM3 mins to read

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One woman said she woke to find a man dressed all in black, standing at the end of her bed. Photo / File

One woman said she woke to find a man dressed all in black, standing at the end of her bed. Photo / File

An Upper Hutt woman has been left shaken after waking to find a man in her house in the early hours of the morning this week.

Tara Simonyi told Stuff she was shoved over by the intruder after she discovered him in her hallway.

"I woke up at 2am to a male in my home," she wrote on Facebook after the incident.

"He didn't manage to take anything but I'm still shaken. Police dog couldn't pick up a scent so they think he could have been on a bike.

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"A good reminder to not be dumb like me and check your doors are locked every night."

Simonyi told Stuff she woke to the sound of someone opening her front door.

When she walked out into the hallway, she found a man she didn't know holding a torch.

"I just saw a dark shadow and obviously he got a fright and shoved me with his hand, and I fell backwards and hit by head on the chair leg. So I have a bit of a sore head as well," she told Stuff.

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"I got straight back up and locked the door and ran to my room to get my phone and call police. Within three or four minutes the cops' cars started to arrive, including the dog handler."

Her 10-year-old son was sleeping in the house at the time.

A police spokeswoman confirmed officers received a report of a burglary at a Burns Grove, Upper Hutt about 2am on Monday, where a woman reported an unknown person had been found inside the property.

Inquiries into the matter are ongoing.

The frightening incident comes four weeks after another Upper Hutt woman woke to find a man standing at the foot of her bed.

Maddison Messer, who lives near Simonyi, told Stuff the man entered her house shortly after her husband left for work early in the morning.

"I just woke up and turned around and there was just this man at the end of my bed. My first words were 'who the f*** are you?'

"I kept thinking is this real, am I in a dream? I said who the f*** are you? And he just stayed still. Then I kept screaming 'get the f***out of my house' then I sat up in my bed, and he ran out."

She was only able to describe him to police as average build, average height, and dressed in black.

A police spokeswoman confirmed they received a report of a burglary at a Thackeray St house on December 17, and that inquiries into that case are ongoing.

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