Salt Lake City, Utah

From Salt Lake City’s KSL.com of November 16, 2005

Man Caught After Picking Wrong House to Burglarize

A man in is [sic] jail after picking the wrong house to burglarize.

Some homeowners rely on a security system to keep them safe. Others may have a watch dog. Jeffrey Boland takes care of things on his own.

Jeffrey Boland, Stopped Burglar: “I had the gun at him..pointed right at him and i [sic] told him twice before he stopped."

Boland and his wife heard a noise upstairs around five o'clock Wednesday morning. He grabbed his gun, walked up the hallway and discovered the intruder.

Jeffrey Boland, Stopped Burglar: "He turned around and started running toward me. I told him to stop...told him I had a gun and that I would shoot him but he still kept coming toward me. I hollered at him again..'I got a gun..stop or I’ll shoot you' finally, he stopped and looked at me and realized I had a gun and was serious."

Boland's wife was calling 9-1-1.

Dispatch: "Your husband is holding this person down?" Caller: "Well, he has a gun on him. and he's sitting in the front room on the floor."

Jeffrey Boland, Stopped Burglar: "My wife and kids were going through my mind and I knew I’d do whatever I needed to do to keep them safe."

Boland kept his head and held the gun at the intruder until sheriff's deputies arrived. But the situation overwhelmed his wife.

Jeffrey Boland, Stopped Burglar: "With all the commotion she got excited and passed out on the phone with 9-1-1."

Dispatch: What's going on there?......hello?

Deputies found keys to Boland's house and RV in the suspect’s pockets, and the keys to a car he allegedly stole parked outside.

Boland believes his life would have been in jeopardy had he not had the gun.

"He was probably within 6 feet and I told him if you don't stop now I’m going to shoot you."

Boland suspects the man entered his home through an unlocked back door, and took the keys off his refrigerator.

The suspect is behind bars now. Deputies say he injected heroin sometime before the attempted burglary.