Cops Rush To Death Threats And Screams -- Of Spider-Chasing Man

A man in Australia freaked out so much about a spider being in his home that his neighbors thought he was murdering a woman, police said.

Concerned residents called cops after they heard hysterical screams, furniture thrown and a man cursing at a home in Wollstonecraft, Sydney, about 2 a.m. Saturday morning, New South Wales police revealed on Facebook.

He was heard shouting, "I'm going to kill you, you're dead! Die! Die!”

But his anger was actually directed at an arachnid that had entered his property, police confirmed.

Neighbors feared that he was attacking and trying to kill a woman -- possibly his girlfriend or wife, according to ITV News.

Police said several patrol cars raced to the home, where the "out of breath" and "rather flushed" man answered the front door.

A report by the New South Wales Police Force Harbourside Local Area Command said officers asked him where his wife or girlfriend was,  but he said he didn't have one and that he lived alone.

"Come on mate, people clearly heard you yelling you were going to kill her and furniture getting thrown around," an officer said. "What have you done to her?"

Police said the man became very sheepish, then he admitted he'd been chasing a spider.

"It was a spider, a really big one!" he said.

The officer asked about the woman who'd been screaming. "Yeah sorry, that was me, I really really hate spiders," he replied.

"After a very long pause, some laughter and a quick look in the unit to make sure there was no injured party (apart from the spider) we left,” the police report said.

An estimated 30 percent of Americans suffer from arachnophobia to some extent, according to healthresearchfunding.org.

Australia has a reputation for being home to some of the world’s most dangerous spiders -- including the  funnel-web and the redback.

The Sydney funnel-web is widely regarded as the most deadly, with one in six of its bites on humans causing a severe reaction, according to the Australian Geographic. They are found in the forests, and some urban areas, of New South Wales.

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