During a brutal house invasion in rural Queensland, a grandma was assaulted and restrained.
On Wednesday at noon, Angie Browne heard something being crushed while she was in the bedroom of her home in Sheldon, north of Brisbane.
The intruder attacked the 49-year-old after she entered another room and fled down the hallway to hide in her bathroom.
Before a family member discovered the terrified grandma, she was kept chained up in her Mount Cotton Road house.
The man, who was in his 20s, allegedly repeatedly assaulted the grandmother throughout the particularly severe intrusion.
According to Detective Inspector Steve Hollands, “This offender observed the victim and chased her down the corridor as she tried to seek sanctuary in the lavatory.”
She was assaulted by this person, which briefly put her into a coma.
The man then took her by the hair and dragged her down the hallway and out of the restroom.
She was then carried into the living room, where she was strapped to a piece of furniture and bound up with cable ties around her hands.
“The perpetrator snatched her cell phone and left it outside the home.”
Before a family member came, she had been restrained with cable ties for about three hours.
She had scratches and bruises when she was brought to Redlands Hospital.
The man was described as tall and trim, with a sweatshirt, bum bag, and baseball cap on his head.
Despite never having seen the man, Ms. Browne thinks she overheard him talking to another male voice.
Police requested anyone with information on the “cowardly” crime to come forward, saying that these kinds of house invasions are “extremely rare.”
According to Detective Inspector Hollands, “This is the most cowardly form of offense that we can examine.”
We have an innocent woman going about her business in her own home when someone or something breaks in and assaults her.
It’s “a very trying time for her, as you can imagine, and we’ll be very aware of her, not only for her physical wellbeing but also for her emotional and mental health.”
Whether or not anything of value was seized during the invasion is unknown.
Police are pleading with anyone with information to come forward.