Canyon Country, California

From the LA Daily News of October 18, 2006

Woman shoots would-be burglar in Canyon Country

A woman shot a gang member Wednesday who had broken into her Canyon Country home while his mother waited outside in the getaway car, sheriff's deputies said.

The 29-year-old suspect, whose wounds were not life-threatening, snapped the lock on the homeowner's screen door and barged in, as the woman retreated to the back yard, gun in hand, according to a sheriff's report.

"To be honest it's fairly rare, but occasionally it does pay off to own a gun," sheriff's Lt. Tom Bryski said.

When suspect Mike Lugo of Palmdale approached the woman about 10:45 a.m. through her back door, yelling at her as he advanced, the woman shot him with a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver. Frightened, she hit him twice in the abdomen and once in the leg, missing a fourth shot, Bryski said.

Lugo manage to run from the Canvas Street street house and got into the Dodge Intrepid, his mother, Cynthia Brandon, behind the wheel, Bryski said.

Brandon, 55, drove off, but the Palmdale resident didn't know where a local hospital was, Bryski said. So she flagged down a sheriff's deputy speeding by on Soledad Canyon Road and Deep Creek Drive. The deputy was responding to the victim's 911 call.

The victim, who was not identified for her protection, was within her rights, shooting Lugo in self defense, Bryski said.

Lugo was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery, and was expected to survive. Brandon was arrested and booked on suspicion of burglary at the sheriff's Santa Clarita station.

Mother and son are being held in lieu of $50,000 bail each.

In the Dodge Intrepid being driven by Brandon, sheriff's deputies found a computer they suspect was stolen from another location. The mom-and-son burglary team did not know the victim, and they were apparently prowling around the neighborhood looking for a house to break into, Bryski said.

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No, Lt. Bryski, it’s not rare at all.