Police have arrested a woman accused of an armed home invasion at Barrack Heights, only to release her without charge a short time later after concluding the incident didn’t happen as alleged.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Occupants of a home on Messenger Road claim the woman entered the house via an unsecured back door about 3am Wednesday, then woke one of them, 15-year-old Taylor Smith, by tapping a gun against her cheek.
“I heard our door open but I was half asleep, then felt something cold on my cheek,” said Taylor, who was visiting her friend, 18-year-old Joyce Brown, when the confrontation allegedly occurred.
“She was like, ‘don’t you f-cking move’.
“We kind of said, you're home invading man, what are you doing?
“She was a bit off her head. As soon as we said that she just kind of realised, and put the gun down slowly, put it the back of her pants.”
Miss Brown said the woman then grabbed her by her hair and forced her down the hallway.
Miss Brown’s mother, Kathleen Brown, says she was sleeping in the loungeroom and witnessed this.
“She held a gun to her, walking her out with her hair [held] and the gun in other hand. She's let her hair go when she's got to the back door then my daughter’s quickly turned and jumped over the lounge.”
Joyce Brown said she had telephoned the woman on Tuesday to tell her she had discovered the whereabouts of her missing dog, an expensive type of chihuahua.
She said she never delivered on her promise to return the animal because a friend of the family who had custody of it “took off” before she could do so.
The Browns say the woman confronted them about the missing dog before leaving their home, still carrying the gun, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Lake Illawarra Police Chief Inspector Steve Johnson said police arrested a woman at her home on a nearby street soon afterwards. But she was released without charge later that day.
“The person was arrested after interviewing the occupants of the home,” he said. “Initially we were told there was a firearm, however our investigations this morning has established that entry was given and no firearm has been produced.”
“[The allegations above] are a totally different version to what they’ve provided to police after being formally interviewed.
“Police have confirmed that no alleged home invasion has taken place.
“It has been confirmed that the person was allowed entry into the premises, in relation to searching for a stolen chihuahua.
“The said Chihuahua has now been located an an address in Bomaderry.”