Wynn Vale man who woke to intruder in bedroom with garden rake recalls the ordeal

The victim of a home invasion has described the nightmarish moment he woke to find a stranger in his bedroom threatening him with a rake.

Tim Warren woke to someone in his bedroom threatening him with a gardening rake. Picture: Dixie Sulda

A man has recalled the moment he woke in the early hours to an intruder brandishing a rake in his bedroom at Wynn Vale, in Adelaide’s northeast, and demanding his phone and money.

Tim Warren said he was jolted awake by someone turning on his light about 2.30am.

“I basically got woken up by someone, they had a garden rake in their hand sort of threatening me, swinging it around,” Mr Warren said.

The 35-year-old said the situation was like a bad dream.

“It was very confronting, I honestly haven’t processed what was happening at the time, I was just sort of trying to cooperate and ended up handing over my phone.

“It’s one of those things that would be like your worst nightmare, it’s a bit strange to wake up to someone... running threats at you,” Mr Warren said.

Police search for the intruder after a break-in at a Wynn Vale home overnight. Picture: Dixie Sulda

The man took headphones and an empty safe, with Mr Warren’s phone. The victim’s phone was recovered at the end of his street shortly afterwards by police.

Mr Warren’s brother was asleep in another room and did not wake to the commotion.

After the incident, Mr Warren said he would be investing in security upgrades.

A neighbour, John Antarakis, said he saw a blue car, similar to the one police are linking to the suspect, parked near his house for about five minutes on Wednesday night.

“It looked a bit suspicious to me... so I took down his number (plates),” Mr Antarakis said.

Susan and Tim Buckingham, other neighbours, woke to their dogs barking about 3am.

They noticed police officers checking cars after the incident.

Tim Warren says the suspect demanded his phone and money. Picture: Mark Brake

“It would be really confronting at 3am to have someone standing over you with a garden rake,” Mr Buckingham said.

“I guess we will all be a bit more vigilant about locking up from now on.”

Patrols searched the area with Police Dog Rusty, who found some of the stolen items in a nearby neighbour’s front lawn.

Police say the suspect intruder left the scene in a dark blue hatch, possibly a Mitsubishi Mirage or something similar, seen parked in the area around the time of the break-in.

He is described as being aged about 30, of Aboriginal appearance, 180cm tall, with a medium athletic build, short dark hair and facial hair. He was wearing dark clothes including a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers.

He also had a pair of headphones taken from the victim around his neck.

Investigators are at the scene this morning, and believe the man entered the premises through an unlocked door.