We’ve all seen the horror movies where the main character investigates a strange sound inside their home in the middle of the night, only to find an intruder lurking, but for one Kelowna resident, that cliche scene became a stark reality.
It was about 4 a.m. on July 6, when Sandy Lintick heard an unusual sound coming from the front foyer of her residence in the 1400 block of Richter Street.
“I didn’t think someone was in my home, so I didn’t think to grab the martial arts stick that I have,” said Lintick.
“I went down the hallway towards the kitchen at the front of my house and that’s when I saw him, standing there, looking at me in the doorway.”
According to Lintick, the man had grabbed a rock-like object from her neighbour’s window sill and broke the front door window. He then reached in, unlocked the door and entered.
But rather than running for her life, Lintick bravely faced the intruder in an effort of self-defence.
“Right away my instincts kicked in and I immediately put my arm across his chest and said ‘get out of my house’ and pushed him backward. But, when he hit the corner where the sink was that’s when I was truly scared because he said angrily ‘don’t push me’ and I went okay, he’s going to fight me now.”
READ MORE: Man found dead on Lake Country trail identified as Hollywood actor
Lintick believed the man to be intoxicated, which she said aided her in getting him out the door. But the man continued to cause havoc once outside, throwing rocks at her truck window before staggering off into the night.
She said the man was enraged, looking for drug dealers who she believes previously lived in the house. If it wasn’t for her being in a light state of sleep when he entered, things could have been a lot worse, said Lintick.
“I was kind of nodding off and that’s the part that I’m so grateful that I was kind of awake because if I’d been sleeping, this man would have come in my room because he was looking for somebody. He was looking for (someone named) Nicole and in his state, he would have thought that I was her,” said Lintick. “That is one of my worst nightmares.”
While Lintick acted bravely, handling the situation herself, she said the event has taken a toll on her mentally. She is now looking for ways to prevent this from ever happening again.
“I’m scared of the boogie man dude, I don’t like the dark,” she said.
“Thanks to my landlord and maintenance guy, they purposely picked out one of the best windows to replace the (door window). I do feel safer because of what my landlord has done.”
According to the Kelowna RCMP, the suspect is still at large.
He described as:
- Caucasian
- 6 feet tall
- in his 20s
- wearing a dark gray hooded sweater with the hood up
Nothing was taken from the residence and no injuries were reported. Anyone with information related to the break and enter is asked to call the Kelowna RCMP.
READ MORE: Ex-Okanagan Mountie forfeits 20 days’ pay after sexual misconduct review
<div style="color: #808080
; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; text-indent: 5px; line-height: 22px; white-space: pre;”>Daniel Taylor
