He broke into a 61-year-old woman’s apartment. She used the dental defense, cops say
A woman managed to escape a burglar and call for help by taking a bite out of crime — literally.
Police say 61-year-old Alice Coleman was sleeping in her Fort Lauderdale home Monday morning when the fire alarm woke her up.
She opened the front door, only to see a man, identified as Fitzroy Morton, 34, jump from a chair across from her apartment into her home.
He threw a ceramic sculpture at her, but it missed and shattered on the floor, according to a report.
Fitzroy tried to restrain the woman, police say, by “wrapping his arms around her neck and body against her will,” an officer said in a report.
After a struggle, the woman “was able to bite the defendant on the left arm to break free,” the officer said.
At some point, police say, Fitzroy grabbed a butcher knife from the woman’s kitchen.
Fitzroy remained inside the apartment while the woman ran out to get help.
“The defendant was observed exiting the apartment when police placed him in custody,” the officer said in a report. “The defendant spontaneously uttered if we could grab his white shirt he left inside the victim’s apartment.”
Fitzroy was charged with burglary with assault or battery, armed burglary and false imprisonment. He was being held Wednesday in Broward’s Main Jail with no bond.
This story was originally published August 8, 2019 at 7:00 AM.
