A ‘terrified’ dog owner was left fighting off three men who came and banged on his door late at night before attempting to barge their way into his home in a bid to steal his dogs.
Ryan Hesford, 33, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was home alone with his three dogs on Wednesday night when he was alarmed to hear someone persistently ringing his doorbell and banging on his door, just before 9pm.
Shocking footage captured the moment the men, two of whom were wearing masks, attacked Ryan and trying to get inside his house as he shouted and fought them off.
Ryan Hesford, 33, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was forced to fight off three men who tried to force their way into his home on Wednesday night (pictured)
Ryan (pictured with his dogs Eagor and Frankenstein) did his best to fight off the men as they attacked him and one made it inside his home
When the doorbell rang, Ryan attempted to speak to them from inside the house via his Ring doorbell, which captures video and allows you to speak through a built-in microphone to any doorstep callers.
But when he couldn’t connect to the doorbell through his phone, Ryan went to answer the door and the footage showed them trying to force their way inside.
During the scuffle – in which one of the masked men can be seen brandishing a metal bar – one man does manage to get into Ryan’s house, and is seen looking around, trying to find the barking dogs.
A few seconds later one of Ryan’s neighbours came to his aid as he wrestled the other two men away from his front door and the three men can then be seen scarpering off down the road.
Property manager Ryan said: ‘It was very stressful – it was all a bit mental for 9pm on a Wednesday night.
‘The whole thing happened in literally 16 seconds from when I opened my front door.
After the scuffle outside his home on Wednesday night, Ryan has been left with a black eye and cuts on his arms
‘But I just feel so lucky that the guy who got into my house didn’t open the door to the room where the dogs were. The good thing is that the dogs are safe.
‘I have two Shih Tzus and a Pomeranian, which I believe are massive on the hit list of dogs going missing at the moment.’
Ryan added that he didn’t realise until he watched the Ring footage back later on that one of the men had actually got into his house during the commotion.
He said: ‘That was scary to watch back. But it looks like he panicked after a few seconds of getting in and then he just left again.’
Ryan said he was home alone with the dogs when the incident happened on Wednesday night, as his partner was away working in London.
The Ring doorbell footage shows one of the men, with a distinctive neck tattoo, knock on Ryan’s front door twice, appearing impatient as he waited for an answer.
When the dogs started barking from inside the house, the man then moved to the front window and tried to peer in through the blinds, before knocking twice on the window.
When Ryan answered the door the man who had been repeatedly ringing his doorbell looks away momentarily and asks ‘parcel for Gary?’
The man then launches an attack on Ryan who tries to fight of the men trying to barge inside his home, include one wearing a mask
Ryan said: ‘I was actually doing some work on my laptop and I had my headphones in, so I didn’t hear the knocking.
‘I got a notification through the Ring app on my phone saying there was motion in my front yard but I looked at the camera and couldn’t see anything so I assumed maybe an animal had wandered through.
‘Then I noticed the dogs jumping up at the window, which they only do when somebody is at the door.’
The Ring footage then shows Ryan answering the door and the man with the neck tattoo can be heard saying, ‘Parcel for Gary?’.
When Ryan attempts to tell the man that there is no Gary at that address, the man lunges at him – with one of his masked accomplices also piling into the scuffle.
Ryan said: ‘I could tell as soon as I opened the door that something wasn’t right. He seemed really agitated on his feet, he was shifting from left to right.
Ring cameras at Ryan’s home captured him fighting off the men outside his home after they tried to barge inside
Ryan said it was not until he watched the footage back that he realised on of the men had actually made his way inside his home
The 33 year old believes his home was targeted because he has three dogs – two Shih Tzus and a Pomeranian (pictured)
‘I attempted to slam the door on him as he came for me but he and the other two pushed back and I’ve been left with a big black eye.
‘Two of them did also have metal bars, which I think is how I’ve got the big cut and bruise that have been left on my right arm.
‘All I could think was that I needed to get them away from my house.
‘I managed to wrestle two of them out the front, and then I jumped over the wall and knocked on my neighbour’s window, and they came out to help me.
‘That’s when all three of them ran off down the road.’
Ryan has now shared the footage with police, who are circulating it in an attempt to track down the men.
He said: ‘The police got here within five minutes of the men running off – it was a really good response, I can’t fault them.
‘They were here with crime scene officers and forensics until about 2am.’
And Ryan added: ‘I just want to get the footage out there to warn others to be aware of people like this.
‘Not everybody would be able to fight back like I did. It’s harrowing to think what might have happened next if it was an old lady that they targeted.’
South Yorkshire Police has been approached for comment.