Woman thwarts attempted home invasion with pepper spray

MANCHESTER, N.H. - One Manchester man is lucky to be alive tonight, all thanks to his girlfriend who stopped a home invader from attacking her boyfriend.

The couple in their 20's, who asked not to be identified, said their home at a Manchester apartment complex was broken in on Monday morning, in broad daylight.

At around 9 a.m., an unknown man barged through an unlocked door and lunged at one of the residents.

"He just wouldn't stop hitting me, kneeing me," said one resident.

Luckily, the man's girlfriend jumped to action and began using pepper spray on the attacker.

"He hit him on the side of the head and he was punching him in the chest where he was having a hard time calling my name because he was knocking the wind out of him," said the man's girlfriend. "He didn’t even know whose house he was, in beating up my boyfriend. My boyfriend was screaming 'babe help, help.'"

The couple said the attacker kept rambling during the altercation. Police later identified him as 31-year-old Cleon Hoggard, saying he appeared to be high on drugs.

"At first when I was spraying him I think I got his back," said the girlfriend. "Then he turned his face and he looked kind of shocked and then I started spraying his face."

Police say Hoggard fled the apartment after the couple called 911, but officers found him nearby covered with pepper spray and arrested and charged him with burglary.

The boyfriend says he's sore, but thankful for his girlfriend's actions.

"If I didn’t buy this [pepper spray] nine months ago, who knows what would’ve happened," said the girlfriend.

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