Brooklyn Woman Fights Burglar Heading Out Of Her Room On Fire Escape

UPDATED 03/26/16 12:20 a.m.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Most people might run in the other direction if they ever encountered a criminal breaking into their home, but not one Williamsburg, Brooklyn woman.

Instead she fought back -- and won.

Tiffany Chang was just watching TV in the living room with her roommate on Wednesday afternoon when she got up to grab her cell phone.

"I was in my living room and I walked into my bedroom, and when I walked in, I saw a man halfway out the fire escape holding my laptop and a bunch of my jewelry," Chang told CBS2's Tracee Carrasco.

But instead of backing away, the stunned 27-year-old took the burglar on. She managed to wrestle her laptop out of the crook's hands.

"I asked him, 'Are you kidding me?' and he looked at me and kind of smiled and froze. So in that moment I thought if he was dangerous he should have done something. I don't think he expected me to reach forward because when I grabbed it, his hands let loose for a second," Chang said.

Her roommate, Russell Pinke, heard the commotion, grabbed something and rushed in.

"I thought she was afraid of a mouse or a bug, and then realize it was a person," Pinke said.

The burglar managed to run down the fire escape and get away with Chang's cell phone and some heirloom jewelry. And while the NYPD says it is best to get to a safe place and call 911 if you ever counter a burglar, the 27-year-old crime fighter is proud she stood up for herself.

"It was kind of surprising because I don't look like the kind of person who could wrestle her stuff back," she said.

Late Friday, police were investigating to see if this break-in is part of a bigger robbery in Brooklyn of 17 incidents dating back to February.