- Joined
- Mar 25, 2005
- Messages
- 143
(All photos were taken after the incident; weve 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 Aunts 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 dont 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 wont be able to make a getaway if he tries to leave while we check the house.
My Dad & I carefully approach the house. Were 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 shouldnt 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 (wed 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 its a moped, I figure its probably some punk kid from down the road at the camp ground. We first clear the living room. I grab Dads 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 & Dads room, the kitchen, my room, & Johns room. Dad says hell check the garage & the basement. I decide to check on Mom. Shes still in the truck, and I dont 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 Dads 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 30s, early 40s.
He immediately started apologizing, saying he hadnt 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 wed already seen that the house was broken into. He said No, I dont know anything about that I didnt break in here, I was just looking around.
He was very nervous, & repeated that he hadnt 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 dont point that at me, I havent done anything I didnt break in. I said Youre trespassing; we know at least that much for sure. He continued rambling saying he hadnt done anything, and that he just needed to go. I told him he wasnt 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 Im sorry, Im sorry! Dad said, Tell me where they are, Ill 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 wouldnt 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 weve lived there for 27 years, the house had never been for rent, used to be a hay field, and that hed built the house himself. He yelled at him that it really pissed him off. Dad asked him if hed been drinking, and the guy said, Yes, hed 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 wouldnt do it. He just ignored us and kept saying he didnt do anything wrong and he needed to go. Since he was already told to do this & wouldnt plus the fact that he kept trying to advance on my when I repeatedly told him to get back, I knew he wouldnt do it. I yelled at Mom, Its alright. I got it. I didnt 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 didnt 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 Its 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 didnt 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 wasnt going to hurt you with it or nothing Luckily, he hadnt tried to charge us with the knife, or I would have had to kill him. Perhaps he might have tried, if I hadnt 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, youre going to jail then. The man started saying, Please sir I the cop said, No thats it if you say you dont want to talk to me, its over you go to jail. The man said, Please sir, I didnt know, you didnt 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. Ive been a cop for 25 years, dont lie to me. He asked him what he was doing here, and at this point, the mans 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 peoples house? and he said, No, no, I didnt break into anyones 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, dont aggravate him. Dad asked if he had any of his valuables stashed somewhere in the yard that could get rained on, and said hed 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 hed left anything in the yard, not No, I didnt 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 didnt 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 Ill 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 youre just a victim of circumstance! The man also admitted to drinking while he was driving on the moped, I dunno if hell 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, Youve 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 Dont you touch those cigarettes! I told you no! If you try that again Ill 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.
This was more excitement than I needed this evening. Friday evening, we left around 5 pm to go to a birthday party at my Aunts 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 dont 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 wont be able to make a getaway if he tries to leave while we check the house.
My Dad & I carefully approach the house. Were 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 shouldnt 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 (wed 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 its a moped, I figure its probably some punk kid from down the road at the camp ground. We first clear the living room. I grab Dads 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 & Dads room, the kitchen, my room, & Johns room. Dad says hell check the garage & the basement. I decide to check on Mom. Shes still in the truck, and I dont 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 Dads 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 30s, early 40s.
He immediately started apologizing, saying he hadnt 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 wed already seen that the house was broken into. He said No, I dont know anything about that I didnt break in here, I was just looking around.
He was very nervous, & repeated that he hadnt 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 dont point that at me, I havent done anything I didnt break in. I said Youre trespassing; we know at least that much for sure. He continued rambling saying he hadnt done anything, and that he just needed to go. I told him he wasnt 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 Im sorry, Im sorry! Dad said, Tell me where they are, Ill 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 wouldnt 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 weve lived there for 27 years, the house had never been for rent, used to be a hay field, and that hed built the house himself. He yelled at him that it really pissed him off. Dad asked him if hed been drinking, and the guy said, Yes, hed 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 wouldnt do it. He just ignored us and kept saying he didnt do anything wrong and he needed to go. Since he was already told to do this & wouldnt plus the fact that he kept trying to advance on my when I repeatedly told him to get back, I knew he wouldnt do it. I yelled at Mom, Its alright. I got it. I didnt 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 didnt 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 Its 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 didnt 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 wasnt going to hurt you with it or nothing Luckily, he hadnt tried to charge us with the knife, or I would have had to kill him. Perhaps he might have tried, if I hadnt 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, youre going to jail then. The man started saying, Please sir I the cop said, No thats it if you say you dont want to talk to me, its over you go to jail. The man said, Please sir, I didnt know, you didnt 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. Ive been a cop for 25 years, dont lie to me. He asked him what he was doing here, and at this point, the mans 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 peoples house? and he said, No, no, I didnt break into anyones 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, dont aggravate him. Dad asked if he had any of his valuables stashed somewhere in the yard that could get rained on, and said hed 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 hed left anything in the yard, not No, I didnt 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 didnt 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 Ill 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 youre just a victim of circumstance! The man also admitted to drinking while he was driving on the moped, I dunno if hell 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, Youve 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 Dont you touch those cigarettes! I told you no! If you try that again Ill 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.
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. 
