Hero dad confronts knifeman
As he held a knife to a three-yearold’s throat, an intruder yelled at her father to get away or ‘‘I’ll do it’’.
But Hamilton dad Beejay Pio had the last word as he knocked out the knife wielding man terrorising his family.
His wife Akita Pio spoke about the terrifying ordeal that unfolded in her family’s Pukete home yesterday in hopes it would make people vigilant about locking their windows and doors.
‘‘We had a minor slip and someone broke into our house and this happened.
‘‘We didn’t lock a window or check a door properly – it could happen to anyone. We never thought it would happen to anyone we know.’’
Beejay Pio was asleep on the couch of their rented Oakfield Cres home in
Pukete around midnight when the intruder slipped in.
Police were still doing forensic tests to work out exactly how the 25-year-old man made his way inside the modest white brick home in the darkness.
It’s likely the couple left the door unlocked or a window, possibly in the bathroom, open due to condensation, she said.
‘‘All these small things you don’t even think of could be a lifesaver.’’
Akita believes the man’s intentions were sinister. After entering he went to the couple’s kitchen where he grabbed a blunt knife from the drawer.
‘‘He’s come into my house, he’s gone into the kitchen and taken off his t-shirt, he’s grabbed a knife from the kitchen drawer.
‘‘He’s shut the drawer and gone straight to my kids’ room.’’
Sleeping in the adjacent beds in the same bedroom were the family’s two daughters, aged two and three.
‘‘My husband woke up and he could see a weird figure down the hallway. He was half asleep and walked down there.’’
Confronted by Beejay Pio, the intruder grabbed the three-yearold, pushed her head down and held the knife to her throat. He began yelling at her husband to ‘‘Get away, get away, I’ll do it’’, Pio said.
‘‘We believe he was on drugs. My husband was trying to talk him down, saying she’s just a baby. There was just no humanity in him. He knew he had to do something or he’d lose our daughter.’’
Hearing screaming, Pio woke and came running for the bedroom. She caught the intruder’s attention and distracted him.
‘‘That’s when my husband tackled him against the wall and began fighting him while he had the knife.’’
‘‘All I saw was the knife, an unfamiliar man and crying kid.’’
Pio grabbed the girls, and her nine-month-old baby, and ran to the other room where she called police. In the room her husband wrestled with the man.
‘‘My husband’s quite short but stocky, so it’s fortunate the guy was of a small build – but on drugs they’re 10 times stronger.’’
Amid the fray her husband suffered superficial cuts and knife wounds.
He was taken to Waikato Hospital for treatment after the incident.
‘‘Lucky it was a blunt knife. He had a few gashes on his face, on his shoulders on his torso’’.
Yesterday he returned home with cuts to his upper eye and a swollen face and lip.
‘‘I think he got punched in the face but he ended up knocking the person out.’’
When the intruder came to, Pio said the man claimed to be confused, dazed and unaware of where he was.
‘‘He was saying ‘where am I?’
’’
Police received the call at 12.30am to the home in Pukete where an intruder was found holding a knife to a three-yearold child, Waikato police Senior Sergeant Charles Burgess said.
They arrived within 10 minutes of the call to find Pio and the intruder wrestling in the bedroom.
‘‘Fortunately we were there very quickly, before there were any serious injuries, and were able to place the intruder in custody.’’
Police arrested a 25-year-old man at the scene who also suffered cuts during the fight and had to be taken to Waikato Hospital for treatment.
The man is a stranger to the Pios. They know the immediate neighbours in the street where they’ve lived for the last year and never seen anyone like him. Police confirmed the attack appeared to be random and the parties were unknown to each other.
‘‘We’d never seen him, we don’t know him, we just know he was around our age,’’ Akita Pio said.
She was proud of her husband for his actions yesterday but urged others to think about what they would do in a similar situation.
She said the couple were shaken but okay.
‘‘It all happened so fast. I’m just grateful my husband woke up when he did as we could have woken to much worse.’’
People needed to take care of their home security, she said, lock doors and windows and have operating security lights.
‘‘Where we are off the road in the dark is perfect for an opportunist.
‘‘People need to be very cautious of their belongings.’’
A 25-year-old Ngaruawahia man appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday charged with entering a building with intent to commit an imprisonable offence; assault using a knife as a weapon; and aggravated wounding. He was remanded in custody without plea to appear on November 1.