I encountered an armed burglar & held him at gunpoint!!! – NOT A JOKE!!!

(All photos were taken after the incident; we’ve been doing some construction, so pardon the mess)

This was more excitement than I needed this evening. Friday evening, we left around 5 pm to go to a birthday party at my Aunt’s house for her & my Uncle. We came home around 9:30 pm. We live out in the country, fairly secluded, with the nearest neighbor out of sight, about a ¼ mile down the road.

As we pull in the drive, we see a moped that we don’t recognize in the driveway where we usually park the truck. My Dad says, “What the hell?” He asks if I have a gun on me, (I have a handgun carry permit) and I said “Yes, two.” We tell Mom (who is legally blind) to stay in the truck while we search the area. I had a Colt Mustang .380 in my pocket and a Glock 17 in my Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack. For backup, I had a Scrap Yard SS4 in a kydex sheath on my belt, and a Benchmade Mini-Griptilian in my pocket. Both guns are loaded with hollowpoints, the Mustang has Golden Sabers & Hydroshocks, and the Glock has +P Golden Sabers. We get out, and he says “Give me one.” I hand him the Mustang & I carry the Glock. Bad storms are moving through, and lightning intensifies throughout the entire ordeal, later turning to rain. (We were under a tornado watch until 3 am)

I pull my stainless steel Fenix LD01 flashlight from my pocket, turn it on high, and sweep the immediate perimeter for suspects. We approach the moped, and I see the keys in the ignition. I pull them out, and notice there is a keychain on it that says “North American Hunting Club”. This told me the individual was a sportsman, and possibly armed with a gun. I put the keys in my pocket, so he won’t be able to make a getaway if he tries to leave while we check the house.

My Dad & I carefully approach the house. We’re facing the house, and Dad turns & goes right, around the East side of the house to look around back. I figure most thieves would choose discretion, and attempt to break in the back of the house. I think the intruder might hear my Dad coming, and flee around the other side of the house to escape, so I start to head to the West end of the house so we can trap him.

As I head closer, I notice a shovel in the front yard that shouldn’t be there. I look around with my flash light; I notice it looks like the front door glass is all cracked. I get closer and see that yes, it has been broken into, most likely with the shovel.

Our shovel (we’d been gardening) in the front yard near the porch.


Porch, with shovel where it was discovered.


Outside view of front door.


Close up of break in the glass.


I notice Dad come back around to the front of the house from the East side. I quickly approach him, and tell him the door glass is broken, and our shovel is laying in the front yard near the porch. He goes to the truck, & tells Mom to call 911, that our window is broken.

We approach the porch, & stand on either side of the door while I shine my light through the door and look into the hall. Dad covers me while I open the door, & flip on the hall light. Dad yells, “COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!!!”…”FINAL WARNING!!!” We get no response.

We carefully enter the hall, and prepare to do a tactical clearing, room by room. Since it’s a moped, I figure it’s probably some punk kid from down the road at the camp ground. We first clear the living room. I grab Dad’s brighter Fenix LD10 flashlight from the coffee table and turn it on turbo mode.

We clear the house, room by room. We get to the bathroom, and see glass all over the floor, and the window broken.

Bathroom floor under window.


Bathroom window.


Bathroom window with curtain removed.


A lot of good these stickers were…


We clear Mom & Dad’s room, the kitchen, my room, & John’s room. Dad says he’ll check the garage & the basement. I decide to check on Mom. She’s still in the truck, and I don’t know where the intruder went. I was concerned he might be hiding, try to escape, see his keys are gone, and do who knows what. I was worried for Mom, and that he might panic & attack her, or take her as a hostage & try to escape in our truck.

I step out on the porch, and see a figure in a white (or light colored) shirt somewhat hunched over, quickly step from around the East side of the house (where Dad had already checked) and disappear behind the back of Dad’s old Suburban in the driveway. The area between the house & the Suburban was only about 9 feet or so. The direction he was headed was toward my Mom who was in our truck. I yelled out “FREEZE!!!” in a very loud, menacing tone while I pointed the flash light & Glock in the direction he had disappeared. A figure came out, with his hands up. I was surprised, because I was expecting a punk teenager, but it was a man in his late 30’s, early 40’s.

He immediately started apologizing, saying he hadn’t done anything wrong. My Dad had heard me yell clear inside the house, even over the air conditioners & fans, and quickly joined me. I held him at gunpoint, from a distance of about 12 feet, with the Glock & flash light centered on his chest. I started interrogating him, asking him what the hell he was doing. He said he thought the place was for rent, and he was looking around. I said “At after 9 pm at night in the dark, with no one home? Bullshit!” I told him we’d already seen that the house was broken into. He said “No, I don’t know anything about that…I didn’t break in here, I was just looking around.”

He was very nervous, & repeated that he hadn’t done anything. He kept trying to approach me, one step at a time. Every time he did, I took a step back, then yelled, “GET THE F*** BACK!!!” Trying to enforce the point that I was not to be trifled with.
Dad yelled “GET BACK! HE WILL SHOOT YOU!” He started saying, please don’t point that at me, I haven’t done anything…I didn’t break in. I said “You’re trespassing; we know at least that much for sure.” He continued rambling saying he hadn’t done anything, and that he just needed to go. I told him he wasn’t going anywhere, the cops were on the way, and his keys were in my pocket.

He was a real idiot, and tried stepping to me 3 or more times, each time I yelled at him to get back, while I also stepped back, while continuing to aim at his center of mass. At one point, he said he needed a cigarette, and just started walking toward the moped. Completely ignoring the fact that we could have thought he was going for us, or going for a weapon. We both aimed our guns at him & yelled, “GET THE F*** BACK!!!” while he shirked backwards saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Dad said, “Tell me where they are, I’ll get them.” He told him they were on the dash of the moped. Dad grabbed the pack & the Zippo.

I thought Dad (being a smoker) was probably thinking they would help calm the guy down so he wouldn’t make any rash stupid decision. It concerned me though, knowing a lit cigarette can be used as a weapon, flipped at an individual to burn & distract them while you charge at them. I also know from Massad Ayoob (a former cop & world famous firearms instructor) than an individual within a 15 foot range can cover the span in about a second, faster than 99% of gun owners could unholster a weapon. So I was careful to watch his behavior, ready to fire if he charged me.

He continued with his spiel about thinking our house was for rent, and my Dad shouted at him that we’ve lived there for 27 years, the house had never been for rent, used to be a hay field, and that he’d built the house himself. He yelled at him that it really pissed him off. Dad asked him if he’d been drinking, and the guy said, “Yes, he’d had a few beers.” He looked slightly off, like he was impaired.

Mom was still in the truck, on her cell to 911. She told them I had a handgun carry permit, and was holding him at gun point. She yelled to me that 911 told her to order him to the ground. Dad had already told him a couple times earlier to get on the ground, and he wouldn’t do it. He just ignored us and kept saying he didn’t do anything wrong and he needed to go. Since he was already told to do this & wouldn’t plus the fact that he kept trying to advance on my when I repeatedly told him to get back, I knew he wouldn’t do it. I yelled at Mom, “It’s alright. I got it.” I didn’t want to show a loss of control of the situation by giving orders that he would ignore to comply with while not enforcing my commands. I knew the only way to get him down would be to force him down, and I didn’t want to get that close to him. Dad told him “You hear that?” When my Mom had yelled that 911 said he was to get on his stomach. At this, we finally got him to sit on the concrete in front of the house.

I held him at gunpoint for about 5-10 minutes until the deputy showed up. It turned out he happened to be a few miles down the road doing traffic watch. Even though the cop was on scene, I continued to hold him at gun point until he approached even with me, in case he had a hidden weapon he decided to pull on us. As the deputy approached behind me, he said “It’s ok, I got it.” And I stuck the Glock in my pocket.

He yelled at the guy “ON YOUR BELLY! NOW!” And the guy ignored him like he did us, saying “Please sir, I didn’t do anything.” He again yelled “NOW!” and he complied. He cuffed him, and said, “Do you have any knives or weapons on you?” And the guy said no. He began patting him down. Then he guy said, “Uh…well, I do have a pocket knife in my pocket.” The cop said, “What was the first thing I asked you! Do you have a knife or other weapon!” the man said “Well, I wasn’t going to hurt you with it or nothing…” Luckily, he hadn’t tried to charge us with the knife, or I would have had to kill him. Perhaps he might have tried, if I hadn’t insisted he keep back, not letting him advance on me and keeping my gun pointed at his chest. He seemed pretty desperate and anxious to get out of there.

The deputy read him his rights, and said, “At this time do you wish to speak with me?” and the man said no. The cop said, “Alright, you’re going to jail then.” The man started saying, “Please sir…I” the cop said, “No…that’s it…if you say you don’t want to talk to me, it’s over…you go to jail.” The man said, “Please sir, I didn’t know, you didn’t say that.” The cop said, “Ok…one more chance then, do you want to speak with me at this time.” And the man said yes. The cop said, “Ok, but it better make sense to me. I’ve been a cop for 25 years, don’t lie to me.” He asked him what he was doing here, and at this point, the man’s story changed. He said he had ridden down to the camp ground, and stopped here to see if he could get some water to fill his bottle with since it was empty. The cop said, “Oh, you want some water, so you decide to break into these people’s house?” and he said, “No, no, I didn’t break into anyone’s house.” Dad said… “A drink of water huh? You drove right by a water spigot at the driveway by the road when you came in.” The cop quietly said to my Dad, “Sir, please…let me talk to him, don’t aggravate him.” Dad asked if he had any of his valuables stashed somewhere in the yard that could get rained on, and said he’d be really mad if there was and some of his stuff got destroyed. The guy said “No.” I think this shows he admitted he was in the house, because his answer no was to the
question of if he’d left anything in the yard, not “No, I didn’t take anything from the house.”

The cop asked him if he had his ID, and he said yes, in his wallet. The cop pulled it out, looked at the address, and found he lived about 5 miles away from us. He said his name was Toby. I didn’t catch the last name. Then he asked him if he had any past criminal history. He kinda stammered around, not giving direct answers, and the cop said, “You might as well tell me…I’ll run your ID in a minute & find out anyway, I just want to know before I check.” He then admitted to having several prior charges for drinking, burglary, theft, etc. The cop said, “So…you have several past incidents of getting drunk and committing burglaries, and we find you here at this residence, drunk, with this house broken into, and except me to believe you’re just a victim of circumstance!” The man also admitted to drinking while he was driving on the moped, I dunno if he’ll get charged with that too. While cuffed, he kept asking the deputy for a cigarette (already having had one several minutes before). The cop kept telling him no. Finally he said, “You’ve asked me at least 5 times for a cigarette…I told you no!” He started trying to reach for the cigarettes and Zippo beside him (with his hands cuffed behind him) and the cop said “Don’t you touch those cigarettes! I told you no! If you try that again I’ll Tase you!” “Knock it off, or your going back on your belly!”

The arresting officer said he had to get back to duty, and was just holding the suspect until backup showed up who would take over. A couple more deputies showed up, later followed by a detective. They were briefed about the situation, and got cameras to document the area. While they were doing this, I went in the house to see if any guns or valuables were missing. It made me mad, because it appeared the worst damage was in my room. My desk drawers were ajar, containers were opened, and objects were flipped and onto the floor, obvious someone had been rifling through my personal effects.

From the scene, I believe he was looking for drugs and/or money. The bathroom medicine cabinet had been gone through. On the top left side of my desk, I have my Spyderco Sharpmaker held down with clamps so I can sharpen knives by my desk. This blocks the top right drawer from being able to open. He had ripped the drawer open, knocking the clamp flying, and luckily my stones weren’t in it, or he would have broken them.

When I entered my room, the first think I checked was to see my laptop was still there. Luckily it was. Oddly enough, he didn’t bother my laptop, or mess with my thousands of dollars worth of high end knives lying around, or bother any of my guns. I had several loaded guns (rifles, pistols, & shotguns) in plain view in my room, several of which he had walked right by. Luckily he didn’t take one, or this situation could have turned out much worse.

When I went to check on my computer, I found some damning evidence he had stupidly left behind. Right on top of the keyboard of my laptop, I found a kitchen dish towel with several spots of blood on it; he had cut himself on the glass when entering. The idiot left his DNA proof behind, claiming he wasn’t in the house & didn’t break in. After a search, we found some blood droplets on the threshold of the front door.

Blood droplets on front door threshold.


The cops photographed the scene. The detective noticed one my tins that had been opened and skewed. This was a round Coca-Cola tin that I use to hold my insurance receipts for my eBay sales. The detective noticed finger prints on it. He asked when I would have touched it last, and I said several days. When the guy scattered my effects looking for something, he had dislodged some dust on my bookcase. It had settled, hitting the tin, and sticking where the skin oil was from his prints, leaving a very noticeable print mark, as though the police had already dusted it for prints! The detective bagged the tin into evidence. He recorded statements from my Dad & me of what had happened before they were on the scene. I told him Mom never left the truck, so they didn’t ask her anything.

They took him to jail, towed his moped, and wrote their report. They asked if we knew him, and we told them we’d never seen him or his moped before. They commented on how easy we made their job. We caught him at the scene, held him at gunpoint, & found evidence of his DNA inside the house, proving that he was inside. While searching the property, Dad found a sack from inside the house he had taken from the kitchen. It has a few grocery items in it, like Hershey Kisses, a can of parmesan cheese, and a jar of peanut butter. I don’t know why he took these items and nothing else, leaving computers & loaded guns. The cops also took this sack into evidence. Because items from inside the house were found outside of the house, I believe this will be charged as a burglary, rather than a breaking & entering. We later found at least a half dozen discarded Hershey Kiss wrappers where he’d discarded them as he ate them while going through our house.

Dad checked in the garage & basement. He said everything looked ok in the basement, but things were shifted around in the garage where he’d scattered things searching for something.

Dad & I went around back of the house, and found 4 places where he’d tried to break in. He took the screens out of 3 windows, broke the bathroom window, and broke the handle off the (non-functioning) back door. We believe he first tried to break into the back windows that were more secluded, then realizing they were too high, instead broke in the front door. Here are some more pics from the back of the house. If you’re wondering, the green stuff on the siding is some type of algae type stuff. It’s very hard to get rid of, and grows only on the North side. We’ve tried scrub brushes & bleach, but can’t get rid of it.

He stood on this trash can where a porch has yet to be built, and tried to pull open the non-functioning door, breaking the handle.


Close up of the broken handle.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-74.jpg[/img]

He took a screen out of a window, and set it behind this ladder. That’s right, the window was too tall to break into, so he IGNORS the ladder, sets the screen behind it, and breaks into the front door instead….idiot.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-73.jpg[/img]

Closer view of the ladder & screen.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-76.jpg[/img]

The broken bathroom window from the outside.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-72.jpg[/img]

He removed a screen from my parents bedroom window on the West side of the house, and put it around the corner on the North side of the house.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-77.jpg[/img]

Glass on the floor just inside the front door.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-45.jpg[/img]

Again…yeah, these alarm stickers didn’t deter him.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-48.jpg[/img]

Facing the front door from the inside.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-63.jpg[/img]

Closer view.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-51.jpg[/img]

Closer still.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-68.jpg[/img]

Just inside the door (behind it) where my Dad was working.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-62.jpg[/img]

I noticed these fingerprints on the deadbolt he’d left in the drywall dust while feeling for the door handle.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/andywayne/My%20Pics/06-19-09/06-19-09-65.jpg[/img]

He was not deterred by our security lighting, alarm system warning stickers, or 3 large dogs. The dogs were in cages, but he wouldn’t have known that until he’d broken in. It is odd, his behavior shows he was intent on getting in, yet all he took was a sack with some various grocery items, leaving behind valuables.

It’s now 5 am, and it has taken me several hours to write all this. I’m very tired, and I have a head ache. My Dad is really upset about all this, especially when a couple weeks ago we left Mom here while we went up North to the Lake to help put the pier in for Grandma. Mom was home alone with the dogs taking care of them, and it’s the thought of what if this had happened while we were gone and only she was there.

I later wished I had thought to take out my cell phone and film video while I had him at gun point. It would be evidence of what he had said, and would make a cool YouTube video. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> At the time I was zoned in on watching his hands, holding the gun on him, and preparing to shoot. I was so focused; it was hard to pay attention to what he was saying because I was intensely watching him.

I don’t think my family will again make fun of my preparedness practices, including carrying bright flashlights at all times, and multiple guns. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Let this be a reminder…beef up your home security.

So…how was your Friday? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

ok, I haven't read the post yet, but I was expecting a raccoon! this sounds much more serious!! back to reading...

I kept waiting for "and then I shot him." Oh well, there's always next time.
Seriously though good lesson.

Wow, that's intense! First I'm just glad you and your family wasn't hurt. Great job with your dad securing the house.

Was the guy on drugs? He sounds like an idiot. I'm real glad to hear he didn't touch any of the firearms in the house, that could have been ugly.

Stories like these are the reason why I think gun banning is ridiculous! It doesn't stop criminals from carrying them. If all you had was your knife, he would have probably pulled out his pocket knife and you, the innocent, would have a much higher chance of getting hurt!

Hey Andy, seems you had a funny end of day, eh? :-)
Luckily you we're well trained and well furnished to effront this situation: bravo!!!
I particularly appreciate the fact that you save your self-control while the situation were moving up: not easy.
I'm sorry for broken thinghs and your house, but the relevant fact is you and your parents are good and safe.
You also cleared your country from a stupid, dangerous idiot!
My congrats, you're a brave guy. From Italy, Alfredo

Andy, I wanted to ask your permission to see if it was okay to post your story on a local gun forum I am on. I think it's a classic story of why we need our right to bear arms. Who knows who might read this story somewhere and change their minds about taking away our rights.

Very, very glad he didn't think to grab any of your guns. My Dad raised me to be a strong believer in gun safes, and stuff like that is exactly why. The thought of someone breaking into your house is bad enough, but them having an opportunity to use your own gun against you is just awful.

Glad you and the family are safe, and that you were able to keep the situation under control.

Wow Andy! you did everything right, not only from encountering the "Hershey-Kiss Need Munchies Bandit" but from your preparedness way before! Good job bro <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

question, can you/anybody see that the dogs are in cages from the outside, through the windows/doors? shocking he would chance that.

it sounds like he searched your room most because of all the stuff (expensive) you have around, so a thief might think it's a better place for finding cash.

if you used your phone-video you would have been more distracted, you did right with what you did I think, again good job mister!

No, I’ll save that for another thread. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />


I didn’t want it to come to that, I did my best to keep control of the situation.


I’ve heard a lot of people say of their house was broken into, they’d let the cops clear the place, but I was pissed. He’s lucky I only held him for the cops.

I’m not sure yet if he was on anything. He only admitted to drinking. But looking for cash/drugs would make you think he might have been. He was pretty sweaty, but it was hot and humid though.


Thanks, it was a very stressful evening. We were up cleaning up the mess until about 2 am.


Sure, that’s fine. Or you can link to it here if you’d rather. Whatever. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />


Yeah, I used to didn’t like the idea of a safe, as it would slow down my access to them, and we’re practically always home anyway – at least one of us is. The house is very rarely left unattended. This situation has changed my thinking. It’s not something we can afford right now, but I may at least make them less noticeable and not so much in plain sight.


The blinds might have been cracked where he could see the dog cages from the porch, but I don’t think he’d know ALL the dogs were in cages, unless he saw their mouths while they barked and saw the sounds were only coming from the caged dogs.

Yeah, I think the phone would have distracted me, perhaps giving him chance to jump us, even if I’d handed it to Dad to film. It really was better not to use it. It would have made an exciting video though. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

That's amazing, Andy. I'm glad you're alright. Being prepared helped you out big time. I'm sorry that your house got broken into; that's awful. It is awesome that you were able to catch him in the act and no one got hurt. You had a lot more self control than I probably would have. I hope I have the guts to do what you did should something like that ever happen to me (and not run away). I always think I have a plan about what to do when something like that happens, but I never know exactly how I'd handle it until it happens. I commend you for your brave actions. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" />

Nice job Andy! Glad everyone is ok and that sucks with all the damage he did. $200-300 in damage for $10 in groceries? what a drag...

I hate thieves. Too bad he isn't dead.