Exclusive: Retired school teacher doesn't back down from intruder

LINDENWOLD, N.J. (WPVI) -- A New Jersey woman didn't give in to her assailant despite being pepper-sprayed in the face.

It happened in the Joel Court cul-de-sac in Lindewold at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday.

The 66-year-old retired school teacher says she was coming down her stairs from the second floor when she saw a man starting to come up the stairs.

"And of course, I said something ridiculous like, 'Who are you?" and he was very quick and he came up and I proceeded down," the victim said.

Instead of running away, the victim charged down towards the burglar who began spraying pepper-spray on her face.

"My eyes were burning but I kept my eyes opened cause I knew I had to get out of there," she said, adding, "He was trying to grab my purse, he grabbed it, but it fell, and I'm screaming and making all this noise."

The spunky, 66-year-old widow was so angry that someone would break into her home, as it turns out, by breaking a basement window.

With her eyes burning from the pepper-spray and having difficulty seeing, she made such a racket, she scared the intruder away.

She then ran out of the house screaming. She had difficulty trying to dial 911 on her phone.

"I'm screaming, 'Help me!' and of course nobody's hearing me and I'm getting impatient with the phone so I came back in the house which you're not supposed to do, came back in the house and called 911," the victim said.

The victim describes her assailant as a slender white male in his late teens to early 30s. He was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt with his face covered by a black bandana or t-shirt.

As she recuperated from her ordeal tonight, she pondered over the stroke of boldness that got into her.

"I'm surprised at myself that I responded that way and I don't know how I even got passed him down the stairs," the victim said. "I was very, very fortunate."

The victim noted that the burglar used his left hand to spray her with pepper-spray, so it's likely the suspect is left handed.

If you saw something or think you may know who the intruder is, you're being asked to call Lindenwold police.