WORCESTER — A quick-thinking Worcester woman fended off an armed man trying to break into her apartment with a broomstick.
On Wednesday, Nov. 29, at about 2:52 a.m., Worcester police responded to an apartment building on Gibbs Street following a report of a break-in in progress.
Upon their arrival, officers saw a woman yell from a window, “He’s trying to get inside!” The woman was later identified as Sara Kane.
Police arrested Oniz Janniere, 32, of Fitchburg, after he was found inside the apartment building, and it was determined that he didn’t know anyone who lived there. According to police, Janniere had two 4-inch-long double-edged knives on him.
Multiple area residents were looking out their windows and doors because of Janniere’s “tumultuous behavior,” a responding officer wrote in a statement of facts for the incident submitted to the Worcester District Court.
Kane said she was awakened at about 3 a.m. by an “intoxicated or disoriented” man violently pounding on the front door of her apartment building. She opened the front door of the building and pushed Janniere back with a broom stick. Undeterred by the broom, Janniere chased Kane into the building.
Fearing for her safety, Kane ran into her apartment, locked the door, and called 911 while Janniere pounded on her apartment door in the hallway.
“Now he’s at my door, shaking my door,” Kane told NBC10. “I was like, ‘What am I supposed to do? Get a knife?’ I didn’t know what to do.”
Within minutes, police took Janniere into custody.
“Thank God for the men that came running to my aid, to those officers. Like, thank God for their response time, you know?” Kane said.
Janniere was charged with attempted armed burglary, two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace.
Janniere was arraigned in Worcester District Court Wednesday morning. At the present time, he’s still in jail because he hasn’t posted bail.
Janniere is scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 22.
