East End resident Edie Murphy waited more than an hour for police Monday night while
intruders boldly tried to enter her home.
After seeing a young man trying to force his way in, Murphy called 911, the Daily News reported. That was at 11:30 p.m., and the operator said someone else had already called.
Murphy yelled at the intruder but he was undeterred. She finally took refuge in a "cubbyhole" and called 911 again, the paper reported.
The burglar, or burglars, then broke the glass in her patio door. Murphy ran from her
home and met neighbor Jean Charlton, who had heard the noise and was coming outside to investigate.
When they broke the glass, Murphy, a psychiatric nurse, said she began to fear for her life "because I knew they were out of control."
Charlton yelled to the intruders that she had a gun. They slashed Charlton's bedroom screens with a knife.
Finally, as other neighbors began to show up, the two intruders left.
The police arrived at 12:30 a.m., the two women said.
It is not clear if Murphy called the Red Hook substation, which is closed after 6 p.m., according to acting Police Chief Jose Garcia.
Garcia told the Daily News that police were dispatched at 11:40 p.m. from the Four Winds police station and reached the scene at midnight.
"They were looking for the house," he said.
The Chamber of Commerce Crime Committee and other local groups have asked for better systems to be put in place so police officers can quickly find specific addresses.
Among the suggestions: link telephone numbers with specific directions to the locations, and put up street and road signs.
To date few of those plans have been implemented.