HOMEOWNER TRIES TO TRAP SURPRISED BURGLAR IN HOUSE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, December 8, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A04

When a 50-year-old township woman came home from work Thursday to find a burglar ransacking her home, she was so angry that she wanted to fight with him and keep him there until help arrived, she said.

Bonita Burgess said she tried to lock the burglar inside the house as he attempted to get away through a glass storm door.

But “he kicked the door right in front of my face; I jumped back, and he was gone,” Burgess said. “It was the dumbest thing in the world to do, but I was angry. “

The burglar ransacked the home, stole a jewelry box containing assorted jewelry, $20 to $30 in loose change, and two briefcases containing business materials, Burgess said. She said she still has to draw up a list of missing items for police.

Patrolman Raymond Talarico, who came to her house, was responding to his second call on a home burglary in two hours. A burglar earlier had tripped an alarm in a Farragut Court home and fled without taking anything.

Burgess told police she thought her husband was home when she saw lights on as she approached her Belle Avenue home a little after 7 p.m. Thursday. She became suspicious when she didn’t see his car in front of the house.

She heard movement upstairs and called out to ask if anyone was home. The burglar answered and said his name was Michael Wilkenson and that he was a friend of her husband.

“I suppose I was just plain stupid, and I was somewhat shocked,” Burgess said. “I was well inside my own house and did not realize that the house had been broken into. . . . I proceeded to walk up the stairs. Then it dawned on me that he might have a gun.”

She said she screamed as she ran back downstairs but didn’t think anyone heard her.

The burglar also ran down the stairs and tried to escape through the front door. But after several unsuccessful attempts to open it, he ran toward the side door that Burgess was trying to lock from the outside.

The burglar struggled with Burgess over the door, then kicked it out and ran north on Belle Avenue, toward Laurelton Parkway.

ID: 17325992 | Copyright © 1990, The Record (New Jersey)