"He was a stranger to this family, that we know with certainty," said Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn.
Police were called to a home on the 200 block of Miller Drive around 2:47 a.m. Tuesday for reports of a burglary in progress. Investigators say 33-year-old Nafis Fisher broke into the home, where a mother, father on hospice care, and their 25-year-old daughter were inside.
The daughter told police she woke up to find a man pinning her down on her bed.
"Perhaps the most scary part of this investigation is the fact that there was a knife on her bed, and an extension cord on the floor next to her bed where the intruder was holding her down," Schorn said.
The victim screamed, prompting Fisher to run into the hallway, where he encountered her mother.
"Her mom physically grappled with the intruder," Schorn added.
Fisher fled the home, taking the daughter's AirPods, passport, and wallet with debit and credit cards inside. Investigators say it was the tracking feature on those AirPods that led police to him.
"Ultimately, the find my feature indicated that the AirPods were stationary on Aramingo Avenue and Somerset Street in the city of Philadelphia," Schorn said.
Officers found Fisher asleep in a black car with the stolen items inside.
License plate readers placed Fisher's vehicle in the Upper Southampton area about two hours before the incident. Schorn said evidence shows "it was quite clear that he was targeting the 25-year-old victim's bedroom."
The district attorney urged anyone who may have shared information about the family with Fisher to come forward.
"If they unwittingly provided information to him to allow him to target this victim and their family, it is incumbent upon that individual to share that information now. It would certainly be better for them to find us than us find them," she said.
Neighbor Joanne Lukas described the family as well-known and respected in the community.
"Upstanding citizens, people that you wouldn't expect to be getting robbed. Good people," Lukas said. "Very odd. Very odd. Thank God she woke up screaming and was able to prevail and not be part of a statistic."
Schorn praised the victims for their bravery.
"To have the presence of mind and the wherewithal to both scream and fight with every fiber of her being and for her mom to physically grapple with this intruder who was in fact an absolute stranger to them," she said.
Fisher is being held on $250,000 bond on charges, including burglary, aggravated assault, and related offenses.