DeKalb woman details brutal attack after finding man inside her own home

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County woman is recovering after a robber brutally attacked her inside her own home.

After the attack, she told Channel 2′s Michael Seiden that she ran across the street to a neighbor’s home, and they called 911.

Now she’s hoping someone saw something to help police get the dangerous man off the streets.

“I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my family or friends. They have been so supportive.

I just don’t know,” said Lisa Holland.

Holland is a two-time cancer survivor and grandmother. She told Seiden that she’s lucky to be alive after the robber beat her until she was unconscious.

“He was real tall, broad shoulders, dark clothes, and he just immediately threw me down on the floor.

He said if I don’t cooperate, he’s going to kill me,” Holland said.

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The attack happened Wednesday at around 7:30 p.m. in the quiet Northcrest neighborhood.

Holland said she had just returned home after running errands and spending time with her family.

“I noticed the cat was acting kind of funny — like she heard somebody or something,” Holland said. “And then I heard some steps coming down the hall toward my bedroom. So I started to get up, and then I heard something fall in the den.”

She told Seiden that she walked out of her bedroom, and that’s when she came face to face with the intruder.

“I tried to struggle with him, and he got back behind me, so I couldn’t see him, and he was kind of holding me down. And I really thought he was going to rape me,” Holland said. “I thought to myself, ‘There’s no way I am going to get out of this alive.’”

Holland said she tried to scream for help, but that made things even worse as the robber started throwing punches.

“After that, I must’ve blacked out. The next thing I remember — I had walked over across the street to my neighbor’s house, and I knocked on their door, and they called 911,” Holland said.

“Any idea of how he could have gotten into your house?” Seiden asked Holland.

“I made the mistake. I got in, left the door cracked. I thought the cat was going out,” Holland said. “My door was not locked. It was still cracked open. He got my phone and my purse that had everything in it.”

The attack left Holland with serious facial injuries.

“They think he broke my jaw and shattered some stuff up here,” Holland said.

She’s now out of the hospital and recovering at a family member’s home.

“I really want to catch the guy. I really want to do whatever, so it doesn’t happen again,” Holland said.

Police said they used the “Find My iPhone” app on Holland’s phone and got a hit in Norcross, but it ended up taking them to a landfill.

Her purse with all her personal information and keys to her house remain unaccounted for.

Police only have a vague description of the suspect at this point.

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