I use this story as an example to my family of the importance of fighting back under any circumstances, never giving up, and always having access to a firearm. What would you have done?
LAKELAND - As Keith Radtke recovers from a gunshot wound to the lower back, he considers himself lucky. He knows much worse could have happened when an armed intruder broke into his Lakeland home Friday night and tried to kidnap him and his wife Jody while their three young sons slept upstairs.
The intruder, identified in police reports as Daine Joseph Linderman, 23, of Lino Lakes, had led authorities on a car chase from Hudson, Wis., and was desperately looking for another vehicle after he crashed the black Chevrolet Blazer he had been driving not far from the Bungalow Inn. He unsuccessfully tried several homes in the area before he found the Radtkes watching television.
In a bold move, Keith Radtke, 37, disarmed Linderman and held him in his garage until deputies from the Washington County Sheriff's Department arrived on the scene a short while later and took him into custody.
The confrontation
When Linderman made it to the home of Keith and Jody Radtke at about 9:05 p.m., he found the couple - who had just put their three elementary-aged boys to bed -watching television in their living room.
According to the Washington County complaint, Linderman pointed a .22-caliber assault rifle at the couple and demanded they get in their car with him.
He then walked behind them, keeping the rifle pointed at their back and head, as they led him to their three-car garage. All the while, the couple was telling him he could take anything he wanted if he would just leave them behind. He refused.
Once in the garage, standing on the wooden stairway leading down to the garage floor, Mr. Radtke pleaded with Linderman to consider taking just him, leaving his wife behind. Linderman again refused.
Then, while Linderman was looking at Mrs. Radtke, Mr. Radtke knocked the assault rifle out of his hand and jumped on him, ordering his wife to get back in the house, lock the door, and call 911.
The two men wrestled, and Linderman pulled a .45 caliber handgun from his waistband and shot Radtke in the lower back. Radtke then knocked Linderman's hand against the railing of the stairway, forcing him to drop the gun, and threw the gun towards the driveway.
The men continued to fight, and when police arrived on the scene moments later, Radtke was lying on the suspect and had him in a wrestling hold.
Police then separated the men and used a taser to subdue Linderman, who was resisting arrest.
LAKELAND - As Keith Radtke recovers from a gunshot wound to the lower back, he considers himself lucky. He knows much worse could have happened when an armed intruder broke into his Lakeland home Friday night and tried to kidnap him and his wife Jody while their three young sons slept upstairs.
The intruder, identified in police reports as Daine Joseph Linderman, 23, of Lino Lakes, had led authorities on a car chase from Hudson, Wis., and was desperately looking for another vehicle after he crashed the black Chevrolet Blazer he had been driving not far from the Bungalow Inn. He unsuccessfully tried several homes in the area before he found the Radtkes watching television.
In a bold move, Keith Radtke, 37, disarmed Linderman and held him in his garage until deputies from the Washington County Sheriff's Department arrived on the scene a short while later and took him into custody.
The confrontation
When Linderman made it to the home of Keith and Jody Radtke at about 9:05 p.m., he found the couple - who had just put their three elementary-aged boys to bed -watching television in their living room.
According to the Washington County complaint, Linderman pointed a .22-caliber assault rifle at the couple and demanded they get in their car with him.
He then walked behind them, keeping the rifle pointed at their back and head, as they led him to their three-car garage. All the while, the couple was telling him he could take anything he wanted if he would just leave them behind. He refused.
Once in the garage, standing on the wooden stairway leading down to the garage floor, Mr. Radtke pleaded with Linderman to consider taking just him, leaving his wife behind. Linderman again refused.
Then, while Linderman was looking at Mrs. Radtke, Mr. Radtke knocked the assault rifle out of his hand and jumped on him, ordering his wife to get back in the house, lock the door, and call 911.
The two men wrestled, and Linderman pulled a .45 caliber handgun from his waistband and shot Radtke in the lower back. Radtke then knocked Linderman's hand against the railing of the stairway, forcing him to drop the gun, and threw the gun towards the driveway.
The men continued to fight, and when police arrived on the scene moments later, Radtke was lying on the suspect and had him in a wrestling hold.
Police then separated the men and used a taser to subdue Linderman, who was resisting arrest.
