91-year-old chases brazen burglar in daylight robbery

A 91-year-old great-grandmother from Brisbane was left shaken and distressed after confronting a brazen burglar who broke into her home in broad daylight, stealing valuable possessions and sentimental items nearly one year to the date of her husband’s passing.

Joanna “Jopie” de Loryn, who lives in Holland Park West, had been in her garden on Wednesday when she returned inside to find a man in her lounge room holding her handbag.

“I saw him (holding the handbag) and I grabbed it,” de Loryn said. The intruder fled, still clutching onto de Loryn's purse, while the determined grandmother, undeterred by fear, chased after him as he escaped through the front door. “I was yelling at him as he ran off,” she recalled. “I felt mad, I said ‘you bastard’.”

Upon returning, shaken, to her bedroom, she discovered that the thief had also taken her jewellery, her watch and her late husband’s old wallet. “My engagement ring ... necklaces my children had given me," she told 7News. "They were all of sentimental value,” she said.

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De Loryn, who lost her husband Bart almost a year ago, spoke of the deep emotional impact of the theft. “Sixty-five years we were married, he was terrific. He was sick the last couple of months (of his life) and I took care of him ... I miss him.”

Neighbour Catherine Armes, a young mother, was in her kitchen when she heard de Loryn’s cries and saw the thief fleeing from the property. “I heard Jopie screaming out, and I saw a man running down her back staircase and I just screamed out at him,” Armes told reporters. “Jopie is a pillar of this community, there are people coming and going all the time, but this noise was just different, and I knew straight away that something was not right.”

Armes’ father, who resides in a granny flat on the property, attempted to chase down the burglar but lost him shortly after. “(Jopie) was very, very shaken up, you don’t want to see an elderly person in that state because of someone who was so low to target them, it was terrible,” Armes said.

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“Shame on them, shame on them for doing it to anyone, but for them to do that to an elderly person who can’t defend themselves, I hope you have your tail between your legs, because (you are) scum.”

Despite the loss of valuable jewellery and her husband’s keepsake wallet, de Loryn said the most devastating item taken was a note given to her by her son.

“In my wallet was a little card that Mark bought for me," she explained. "It said, ‘I’ll stay with you until you go’, it was so nice and that’s what I’d like to have back."

After a restless night, de Loryn admitted she is still feeling unsettled by the incident. “It’s not a nice feeling, to have a stranger coming in and taking all your stuff and walking out ... and I don’t know how long he was in my bedroom. I still feel a bit shaky.”

Authorities are urging anyone with information regarding the robbery to contact police.

Images: CCTV / 7 News