Jeff F
Member
This guy picked the wrong house.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061031/NEWS10/610310320/1002
It was like a scene from a movie.
Immediately after Char Johannessen and her 5-year-old daughter left their Reno home Wednesday afternoon, her husband was roused from his afternoon nap by their dog barking outside.
Reflected in the glass of a framed picture, Jeffrey Johannessen could see a man outside the dining room window, adorned with a Halloween picture drawn by his daughter. He watched the black-gloved burglar as he pried at the window with a paint scraper.
Johannessen, who was a deputy in Gillette, Wyo., in the 1980s, grabbed his 12-gauge hunting shotgun from a nearby closet and waited for the suspect he nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke" for his criminal confidence.
The burglar, whom police identified as Ernest Carpenter, never knew Johannessen was in the home until he faced the shotgun and was told to hit the floor.
After a few blows to Carpenter's head with the butt of the shotgun "" one strike causing his dentures to fly out "" Johannessen, 6-foot-5, held the 5-foot-3 suspect until police arrived.
Johannessen, 48, said although he has law enforcement experience from his younger days, he considers himself an average citizen. He and his wife run a real estate business from their home.
"Having an armed populace is good," Johannessen said. "I had my shotgun, but I didn't have to fire it. He got the soft end of it, not the business end."
And Carpenter could've avoided that, Johannessen said.
"If he would have just gotten on the floor like I told him, I wouldn't have even had to have struck him."
But local police say that there are several alternatives to wielding weapons. (Editor's Note: See sidebar for more information.)
The Johannessens know the situation could have turned out differently. They also credit their dog, Hunter, with being a hero for waking Johannessen.
"The stars just really lined up, and it was his time to go to jail," Johannessen said.
Char Johannessen said the broad-daylight incident, about 1:30 p.m., is a wake-up call to always be on the look-out for criminals. Their home, near Hunter Lake Elementary School, is near a busy street and shopping center. The window the burglar entered is covered by trees and bushes and is not easily seen from the street.
The burglar also was not deterred by their dog barking just feet from the window.
Char Johannessen compared her Realtor husband to the cartoon superhero whose day job is selling insurance.
"I'm married to Mr. Incredible," she laughed. "I sleep very well at night."
Carpenter was paroled in September after serving prison time for being a felon who possessed a firearm and stolen property in Douglas County, records show. Carpenter, 50, was booked Wednesday into the Washoe County Jail on suspicion of burglary and possession of burglary tools, as well as two misdemeanor warrants.
Police said that Carpenter was being monitored by the regional Repeat Offender Program that secretly watches career criminals who average at least five felony property crime convictions.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061031/NEWS10/610310320/1002
It was like a scene from a movie.
Immediately after Char Johannessen and her 5-year-old daughter left their Reno home Wednesday afternoon, her husband was roused from his afternoon nap by their dog barking outside.
Reflected in the glass of a framed picture, Jeffrey Johannessen could see a man outside the dining room window, adorned with a Halloween picture drawn by his daughter. He watched the black-gloved burglar as he pried at the window with a paint scraper.
Johannessen, who was a deputy in Gillette, Wyo., in the 1980s, grabbed his 12-gauge hunting shotgun from a nearby closet and waited for the suspect he nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke" for his criminal confidence.
The burglar, whom police identified as Ernest Carpenter, never knew Johannessen was in the home until he faced the shotgun and was told to hit the floor.
After a few blows to Carpenter's head with the butt of the shotgun "" one strike causing his dentures to fly out "" Johannessen, 6-foot-5, held the 5-foot-3 suspect until police arrived.
Johannessen, 48, said although he has law enforcement experience from his younger days, he considers himself an average citizen. He and his wife run a real estate business from their home.
"Having an armed populace is good," Johannessen said. "I had my shotgun, but I didn't have to fire it. He got the soft end of it, not the business end."
And Carpenter could've avoided that, Johannessen said.
"If he would have just gotten on the floor like I told him, I wouldn't have even had to have struck him."
But local police say that there are several alternatives to wielding weapons. (Editor's Note: See sidebar for more information.)
The Johannessens know the situation could have turned out differently. They also credit their dog, Hunter, with being a hero for waking Johannessen.
"The stars just really lined up, and it was his time to go to jail," Johannessen said.
Char Johannessen said the broad-daylight incident, about 1:30 p.m., is a wake-up call to always be on the look-out for criminals. Their home, near Hunter Lake Elementary School, is near a busy street and shopping center. The window the burglar entered is covered by trees and bushes and is not easily seen from the street.
The burglar also was not deterred by their dog barking just feet from the window.
Char Johannessen compared her Realtor husband to the cartoon superhero whose day job is selling insurance.
"I'm married to Mr. Incredible," she laughed. "I sleep very well at night."
Carpenter was paroled in September after serving prison time for being a felon who possessed a firearm and stolen property in Douglas County, records show. Carpenter, 50, was booked Wednesday into the Washoe County Jail on suspicion of burglary and possession of burglary tools, as well as two misdemeanor warrants.
Police said that Carpenter was being monitored by the regional Repeat Offender Program that secretly watches career criminals who average at least five felony property crime convictions.
