Townsville crime: Wulguru woman, 64, assaulted in her own driveway, thief on the run

A 64-year-old agoraphobic woman says she’s too fearful to even step outside her house after a trip to buy milk turned into her worst nightmare and she was brutally assaulted by a teen thief.

A woman in Wulguru was punched in the face by a thief who ambushed her in her own driveway on Monday night.

A 64-year-old agoraphobic woman says she’s too fearful to even step outside her house after a trip to buy milk turned into her worst nightmare and she was brutally assaulted by a teen thief.

Wulguru resident Linda* said her worst fears came to life when she was ambushed outside her home by a teenager on Monday night.

The 64-year-old suffers from agoraphobia — an anxiety disorder where people fear leaving safe environments — and said she’d had actually been feeling well that day and went to the shops to get some milk by herself.

Only for her to come home and be set upon by an opportunistic young thief who punched her in the face before running away with her handbag about 8.50pm.

“He whacked me in the mouth and knocked the reading glasses off the top of my head,” Linda said.

“I let (my bag) go and as I turned he was running away.

“I got back in the car, locked the doors and honked the horn to until my son came out of the house.”

Linda said the ambush had completely set her on edge and she didn’t feel safe leaving her own home anymore.

“I was jumping last night at every single little sound, thinking he’d come back,” she said.

“I’ve been here 23 years but I’ve never had any problems like this.

“My neighbour had his motorbike stolen by someone armed with a knife the other day.

“It’s just getting worse and worse the situation with crime.”

The Townsville Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) are investigating.

No charges have been laid at this stage.

*Last name has been omitted to protect the identity of the victim.

Originally published as Townsville crime: Wulguru woman, 64, assaulted in her own driveway, thief on the run