Police are asking for help after a man armed with a gun attempted to gain entrance to a suburban woman’s home while she held the door shut before he fled the scene Sept. 23, officials confirmed Friday.
The incident, which officials are calling an attempted abduction, took place about 5:10 a.m. when the woman was walking her dog before going to work, according to Sean Howard, spokesman for the village of Harvey. The woman said she noticed her dog was acting strange and refused to walk far from the house
According to the city's statement, as the woman attempted to go back into her house, the man ran up the stairs and on to her porch.
"I quickly ran in the house, slammed the door behind me and locked it," Brittany Mays said. "When I slammed door and locked it, he ran on porch, grabbed the handle and tugged on the door."
Mays said when the man realized he couldn't get in, he pointed the gun at herthrough the door "like he wanted to shoot me."
Mays, who suffers from asthma, said she couldn't catch her breath, remember where her phone was or operate her alarm system.
"I was just so shook up," she said.
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She said she saw the man take off in a white van with a black stripe, which the police are looking for. Police say the man got into the passenger side before fleeing. They also believe this incident could be connected to an abduction that took place on Wednesday evening near 81st Street and Western Avenue in Chicago. In that incident, armed men grabbed a woman and then released her a day later near 154th Street and Center Avenue, about a half mile from May's home.
"This young lady was superb," said Harvey Police Deputy Chief Gregory Thomas. "In the fact that she saw what she thought was a danger and she was able to think about not alerting the suspect, that she was aware of him, but again able to flee to a safe location."
Anyone with information on the incident should call 708-331-2131. If anyone sees the described van they are encouraged to call 911.
