Breaking up a break-in

New American, The, Oct 31, 2005 by Kurt Williamsen

A Henderson, Nevada, man called 911 to report a burglary attempt, but the burglars didn't give him time to finish the call, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

On September 19 at about 7:55 p.m., a man identified only as B.A. was awakened by a pounding on his front door and repeated ringing of his doorbell, but when he reached the door, no one was there. According to the Review-Journal, "He thought his mind might have been playing tricks on him until he walked by a bedroom window and saw the silhouette of someone wearing a baseball cap on backwards."

He grabbed his pistol and dialed 911, but no one answered his call. No one answered the second time that he called either. On his third call, he did get through to a dispatcher, but his call was interrupted by a rock that was thrown through the bedroom window. When two of the three visible burglars had entered the bedroom, B.A. commanded them to get on the ground. Foolhardily, one of the intruders instead tried to punch B.A., and so B.A. started shooting.

B.A. put two bullets into each of the intruders inside his house. But they fled the scene only to be arrested later at a nearby hospital where they sought treatment for the wounds. The third intruder was still at large. Arrested were cousins Joey Bolden and Tyrone Delmario Bolden. Both are expected to survive their wounds. The shooting has been preliminarily labeled self-defense.

B.A.'s neighbors have been thanking him for his actions because they know that it was sheer luck that the intruders bypassed their houses and targeted his.