SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida family was left traumatized after a neighbor broke into their Southwest Miami-Dade home and went on the attack.
Alexandra Alonso, one of the victims, said the incident occurred at her home near Southwest 82nd Street and 50th Court, around 1 a.m., Friday.
Police identified the neighbor as 26-year-old Christopher Sanders, who used a sculpture from Alonso’s yard to break into her home.
“It’s just out of a horror movie. Something that you don’t wish upon anybody,” Alonso said.
Alonso’s husband came downstairs to investigate after hearing glass break while working on his computer upstairs.
She said her husband then confronted Sanders and tried to fight him after he broke into the home.
“Picking up another sculpture, trying to hit him, swinging wildly, giving him a bear hug, trying to bite him in the face,” she said.
Cellphone video showed the mess left behind from the incident.
A trail of blood and broken glass could be seen all over the floor.
“They went up until the last step,” Alonso said while walking 7News cameras through the scene.
Alonso said her husband wrestled with Sanders while she and her two teenage children barricaded themselves in a bedroom.
She said her husband finally got Sanders outside of the home a half-hour later.
“I watched him from upstairs when he was outside. I watched him, covered in blood,” Alonso said. “I didn’t know if it was his. I didn’t know what was going on.”
Police arrested Sanders after Alonso’s husband got him out of the house.
On Monday, Sanders made a bond court appearance, where we was ordered to stay away from Alonso’s husband.
“I think that shouldn’t happen to any neighbor,” Alonso said.
Although her husband wasn’t seriously injured, Alonso said the entire family is now traumatized by the experience.
While Sanders remains behind bars, Alonso is now thankful the situation wasn’t worse.
“I’m beyond grateful that everybody is alive,” she said. “Yes, it’s almost like a second chance.”
Sanders is now facing several charges, including armed burglary and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
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