Willie Murphy, an 82-year-old bodybuilder in Rochester, threw her weight around, along with some nimble moves, to subdue the would-be thief, WHAM-TV reported.
“He picked the wrong house to break into,” Murphy told the television station.
82-year-old Willie Murphy says a man broke into her home late last night. The suspect likely thought she was an easy target. What he didn't realize - Murphy is an award winning body builder who still competes.
— Andrew Banas (@AndrewWHAM) November 22, 2019
"I'm alone and I'm old, but guess what? I'm tough."@13WHAM pic.twitter.com/4VpwH3Xu8e
Murphy said she heard a man pounding on her door at 11 p.m. Thursday, Fox News reported.
Murphy, who works out almost every day at the Maplewood YMCA in Rochester, went to the door to investigate but did not let the man inside, the website reported.
"He was outside and saying, 'Please call an ambulance,' saying, 'I'm sick, I'm sick,'" Murphy told WHAM.
The man broke the door down, but Murphy was ready.
"I picked up the table, and I went to work on him," Murphy, who can deadlift 225 pounds, told Fox News. 'The table broke."
Murphy then grabbed a bottle of shampoo and began pouring it on him, WHAM reported.
“And when he’s down. I’m jumping on him," Murphy told the television station. “I grabbed the shampoo. Guess what? He’s still on the ground. In his face, all of it, the whole thing.”
Murphy then grabbed a broom and began swatting at the intruder.
"I got the broom," Murphy told WHAM. "He's pulling the broom. I'm hitting him with the broom."
Police arrived to arrest the intruder, who was taken to an area hospital.
"The officers that came wanted to go on my front porch and take selfies with me," Murphy told WHAM.
Predictably, Murphy returned to the YMCA on Friday, where she received a hero's welcome, the television station reported.
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