ELLENVILLE, NY – Hoping to awake Christmas morning with a house full of presents, one Ellenville girl woke up instead on Christmas Eve to a stranger in her bedroom, totally naked. According to the Ellenville Police Department, a man entered the girl’s room at the Mill Street apartment building after crawling through her front window.
Police identified the home invader as Sergio Ulysee, 37, of Ellenville.
Once inside the home, Ulysee snuck through the house, naked and into the back bedroom occupied by two twelve-year-old girls. One of the children heard him and woke up. Police said he was fully aroused standing in the girls’ bedroom.
One of the children began screaming and confronted him, telling him to leave. After the second child woke up and also began screaming, Ulysee fled the home. Rushing to their bedroom, the girls’ mother asked what had happened. After finding out that Ulysee had been in the room, the parent grabbed a knife and she attempted to find Ulysee, but he had already fled the home.
After quickly identifying the suspect, police caught Ulysee driving in his vehicle and initiated a traffic stop. After a brief struggle with officers, he was taken into custody.
He is being charged with 2nd-degree burglary, sexually motivated felony, and endangering the welfare of a child. He was lodged in the Ulster County Jail with a $250,000 cash bail or $500,000 property bond.
“This brave young lady acted with extreme bravery and without hesitation, or fear, and at great personal risk to her own safety, she confronted this suspect,” said Chief Philip Mattracion. “She is to be commended for her actions. There were three other people in that apartment, one being a 5-year-old girl. We will never know what might have happened if not for her heroic actions.”