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Homeowner captures break-in suspect
Morning Sun
8/8/05 MARK RANZENBERGER
Isabella County sheriff's deputies didn't have to look very far for the man they believe broke into a Fremont Township garage and tried to get into a nearby home; the suspect was facing the business end of the homeowner's shotgun.
The 17-year-old suspect was arrested for home invasion.
The homeowner, Rust Brown, said his grandparents were murdered in a home invasion in Kingman, Ariz., on Feb. 26, 1999, and he wasn't about to let something like that happen again.
Brown was awakened by his wife, Shannon Brown, 30, early Wednesday morning when she heard a noise, according to a sheriff's department report. The Browns discovered a screen had been removed and the window opened.
Rust Brown grabbed his 12-gauge Winchester shotgun and went outside, following tracks in the wet grass to a nearby 1975 Ford pickup truck. There, he said he found the suspect hiding underneath.
"He was just hiding up in there,“ Brown said. Brown is a former security guard, and he had a pair of handcuffs that he put to use.
Deputies found a half-empty bottle of Boone's Farm Blue Hawaiian wine near the truck, and Brown said he discovered a bag that turned out to contain marijuana under the truck the following morning. He turned that over to deputies.
Deputies also discovered a 15-speed Huffy bicycle nearby that turned out to have been taken from a neighbor's garage. The neighbors told deputies that two coolers, containing about 40 beers each, also were missing. The beer was not recovered.
The suspect told deputies he had done nothing wrong, was just walking through a nearby field, and wasn't close to the house.
Investigators said the suspect never actually got into the residence. Brown said that probably was a good thing.
"If he was standing in my house,“ Brown said, "we'd be looking at a body bag.“
Morning Sun
8/8/05 MARK RANZENBERGER
Isabella County sheriff's deputies didn't have to look very far for the man they believe broke into a Fremont Township garage and tried to get into a nearby home; the suspect was facing the business end of the homeowner's shotgun.
The 17-year-old suspect was arrested for home invasion.
The homeowner, Rust Brown, said his grandparents were murdered in a home invasion in Kingman, Ariz., on Feb. 26, 1999, and he wasn't about to let something like that happen again.
Brown was awakened by his wife, Shannon Brown, 30, early Wednesday morning when she heard a noise, according to a sheriff's department report. The Browns discovered a screen had been removed and the window opened.
Rust Brown grabbed his 12-gauge Winchester shotgun and went outside, following tracks in the wet grass to a nearby 1975 Ford pickup truck. There, he said he found the suspect hiding underneath.
"He was just hiding up in there,“ Brown said. Brown is a former security guard, and he had a pair of handcuffs that he put to use.
Deputies found a half-empty bottle of Boone's Farm Blue Hawaiian wine near the truck, and Brown said he discovered a bag that turned out to contain marijuana under the truck the following morning. He turned that over to deputies.
Deputies also discovered a 15-speed Huffy bicycle nearby that turned out to have been taken from a neighbor's garage. The neighbors told deputies that two coolers, containing about 40 beers each, also were missing. The beer was not recovered.
The suspect told deputies he had done nothing wrong, was just walking through a nearby field, and wasn't close to the house.
Investigators said the suspect never actually got into the residence. Brown said that probably was a good thing.
"If he was standing in my house,“ Brown said, "we'd be looking at a body bag.“
