Rochester, NY — Willie Murphy, an 82-year old grandmother from Rochester, New York, said the man who broke into her home “picked the wrong house” as she easily took him down before the police arrived. The intruder was likely unaware that despite her age, Murphy is still in very good shape.
Murphy said she was preparing to sleep around 11 pm on Thursday last week when a man started pounding on her door, asking for help to call the ambulance.
She called the police and didn’t let the man inside. But then he became angry.
“I hear a loud noise,” she told WJLA. “I’m thinking, ‘What the heck was that?’ The young man is in my home. He broke the door.”
Since it was dark when the intruder walked through her house, Murphy said she hid and quickly grabbed the closest thing she could find.
“I picked up the table, and I went to work on him. The table broke. And when he’s down, I’m jumping on him,” she said.
The intruder was then injured and she took it as an opportunity to grab a bottle of shampoo to pour it on him.
“I grabbed the shampoo. Guess what? He’s still on the ground. In his face, all of it, the whole thing,” she continued. “I got the broom. He’s pulling the broom. I’m hitting him with the broom.”
That was when the officers arrived. The man was sent to the hospital to be treated for injuries. First responders praised Murphy for her strength and bravery and asked to take selfies with her.
Murphy, who is an award-winning bodybuilder, still works out at the YMCA almost every day and can still deadlift 225 pounds. She hopes her experience could inspire people, young or elderly.