Old Man Kicks Some Ass-Brad Hoffmann
Go ahead, make my day. Get off of my lawn. It takes old guys to clean up the country, here you go.
AN elderly western suburbs man fought off an intruder in his home early this morning.
Cliff Longmore said he woke up just after 4am to find a man in his bedroom in Thebarton, rifling through his drawers.
"I jumped out of bed and I tackled him, Mr Longmore said, I was wrestling him around.''
"I got knocked to the ground , he said, I've got a bit of a scratch on my leg and a sore back too,'' Mr Longmore said.
"He just kept on going through the drawers, searching everywhere, the next minute he's off, he tore out through the back door, empty-handed''.
Mr Longmore said he wished he had something at the time to defend himself with.
Two weeks ago his home was broken into in similar circumstances, "they broke in the same way,'' Mr Longmore said.
Mr Longmore's daughter, Jenny Stephen, said her father was a builder for many years and had lived in the house for more than 60 years.
"I am worried for my father, (living here alone) Ms Stephen said, he has his pride his dignity, all his friends are gone, he has outlived everybody.''
Mr Longmore's wife passed away about five years ago.
Mark-Harman Smith, who lives next door, said Mr Longmore was a great neighbour who was always keeping himself busy.
"It is pretty horrible for something like that to happen to him, it's pretty bad,'' he said.
"Unfortunately for him at his age he can be easy prey.''
"He still rode his bike a few kilometres every day and drove his car,'' Mr Harman-Smith said.
"He grows amazing fruit and brings some over to us, he is such a nice guy."
A police spokeswoman said cordons were set up in surrounding streets and the dog squad was brought in to search for the offender.
"A police dog managed to track the suspect for a short distance before it became clear that he had escaped the cordons, she said.''
The suspect is described as a man aged in his late 20s, about 170cm tall, of slim build and wearing white gloves.
Brad Hoffmann