INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man is ready to move away after losing his livelihood and his sense of security.

Michael Lee has been the victim of violence before, but this time, back-to-back crimes put his loved one in danger, too.

“I came out and my truck was gone,” Lee said.

He was making his usual morning coffee run last Thursday at 56th and Emerson, when Lee realized his red Ford F-150 pick-up truck was gone.

“I had left it running because I had the spare key. I had it locked and the window was open about that far and they reached through the window, pulled it open and drove off,” Lee recalled.

For Lee, this wasn’t just his form of transportation. Also taken was was the $10,000 generator he uses for his welding business.

“I lose my livelihood, what I use for my work. I spent years saving up to buy all that equipment,” Lee said.

But he had no idea that this crime would lead to something much more brazen. The next day, he says someone used the garage door opener that was in the stolen truck and went to his house, about a mile away from where his car was stolen.

“Hit the button, just like that, the door come open,” he said. “Opens this drawer, pulls out this knife.”

His girlfriend was inside, in the next room.

“She sees him in the hallway and he comes and meets her in the hallway. Holds the knife to her stomach, forces her into this bathroom, makes her get under the sink right here at knifepoint,” Lee said.

While the intruder was ransacking the house, she managed to jump out of the bathroom window and escape.

“I’m so glad she did, because I don’t know what could’ve happened to her if she hadn’t gotten away,” Lee said.

Now, after getting targeted by criminals again, Lee is making the difficult decision to move away from his hometown.

“Getting robbed and shot in Fountain Square two years ago over $47 in my wallet wasn’t enough. Now I’m having my home that’s supposed to be my sanctuary invaded, my girlfriend violated,” Lee said.

That’s why he says leaving is the only thing left to do to feel safe again.

Source: WTHR