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'Run somewhere he won't get you': Girl recounts being chased into home by stranger

LOWELL, Mass. — It was a terrifying moment for young girls in Lowell after a man tried to grab them and chased them into a home.

Two young girls were playing outside of a Court Street home on Sunday afternoon when they noticed a man watching them.

"Out of nowhere, my friend Haley pointed out this man that was standing in our yard, and he was just leaning against the tree like he had been watching us for a while. I looked closely, and I'm just watching him, and all I could see were his cloudy white eyes with his tiny, sharp black pupils just staring at me," said 11-year-old Elizabeth Santos.

Santos said she screamed at the top of her lungs for her friend to run.

"Just run. Just run. Just run. Just run somewhere where he won't get you," Santos yelled to her friend.

The girls ran into Santos' family home to get away from the man, but he followed them into the house.

"My other friend ran in the house with me," Santos said. I threw her in front of me, and he charged and tried to grab me by the hair."

Elizabeth screamed for her mother, Maureen, who says adrenaline kicked in and she pushed the stranger our of her home. The girls' fathers and neighbors followed the man to the cemetery where they tackled him and held him down until police arrived.

"I yelled for my mother and she came I dialed 911 right after I picked my friend up like you'd hold someone who just hurt themselves and I threw her in the bathroom, I closed the door, then I went to the other side of the house to lock that door," said Santos. "I dialed 911 as fast as I could and once I did I gave the phone to my mother and I put her in the bathtub and I was holding her and she was just crying in my arms."

Elizabeth hopes other parents take this incident as a chance to teach their children about safety.

"All I could remember was my mind going blank and I didn't know what to do and I just thought of the stuff that my parents told me and I helped a friend and I hope that parents can also educate their children to be careful because you can't even stay in your own house right now and you can't even leave the door open without watching your children," said Santos.

Police identified the man as 54-year-old Wayne Spencer, who they believe is homeless. Police say he has no relationship to anyone at the address on Court Street.

Maureen Santos told Boston 25 News that the neighborhood has been having ongoing issues with homeless people coming through the cemetery's unlocked gate into the neighborhood. Santos hopes now the city will do something to address the problem.

Maureen also praised her daughter's instincts at that moment.

"My daughter was so courageous," Maureen Santos said. "It was so amazing, I'm proud of her."

"I thought of my friends first," said Elizabeth.

Spencer was charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, attempt to commit a crime (kidnapping), trespassing, assault and assault and battery.

Spencer did not appear in court Monday. The judge said "Spencer will be interviewed by our doctor" to determine competency.

It's unclear if Spencer will be in court later Monday.

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