Augusta, Georgia

From Augusta’s WRDW.com of April 26, 2007

Man shot during home invasion

A man is recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest after breaking into a house just before 4 o'clock this morning at 3721 Lexington Drive in Augusta.

Deputies say a woman living there shot the man once. Then he ran across the street tossed the gun and was found later lying on a picnic table.

He is being treated at MCG.

From Augusta’s WJBF.com of April 26, 2007

Homeowner Fights Back

The WJBF News Channel 6 Crime Tracker reports an arrest in an early morning, violent break-in in South Augusta. Happened shortly before four-thirty this morning, on the 37-hundred block of Lexington drive -- that's just off Rosier Road in South Augusta. The homeowner was no easy mark. She fought back against her attacker. It looks like the victim stopped the suspect in his tracks. The victim is a 57 year old woman who lives alone. But that only made her more prepared to protect herself. Even though she was abruptly awakened while asleep, it didn't take long for her to come to her senses and take aim at the suspect who turned out to be a neighbor. The Mount Vernon subdivision is usually quiet, but that peace was broken in this Lexington Drive home this morning. Detectives say 19 year old Justin Brent Haynie got into his neighbors home while she slept and put a knife to her throat.

Sgt. Calvin Chew, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office: “He jumped on the bed and he started trying to cover her mouth because she was shouting.”

During the struggle Sergeant Calvin Chew says the victim, a 57 year old woman who lives alone somehow managed to grab her .357 off the nightstand. That was something haynie (sic) didn't know. Detectives say as haynie (sic) walked behind her with a knife to her neck, she quickly spun around and shot him in the stomach. Haynie grabbed her gun and ran. But he didn't get far.

“It was really shocking to me that something like this would happen.”

It was a little after four in the morning when Joann Hatchell heard voices. She says she saw police and the suspect in her backyard.

“Then I looked over at my picnic table and this young man was sitting there that was bloody front and back.” “He turned sideways and I recognized him. I said Brent.” “Is that Brent?”

Hatchell says she knows Haynie and he would often offer to help her out in the yard. He lives next door with his grandparents.

“I just think it's a sad situation that things like this happen.”

The victim wasn't seriously hurt, just a few scratches on her neck.

“This is actually the perfect scenario for self-defense and protecting your home and family.”

“A lot of time you hear about gun control and so forth but she was able to use her gun to protect herself in her home.”

Haynie is in serious condition in a local hospital. He's expected to be o.k. A list of charges is waiting on him when he gets out. They include burglary, kidnapping aggravated assault and weapons charges. The homeowner is not facing any charges. Investigators say there was no sign of forced entry. The suspect may have come in through an unlocked door.

From Augusta’s WRDW.com of April 26, 2007

Teen breaks into neighbor's house, ends up shot

He broke into her home...so she shot him.

19-year-old Justin "Brent" Haynie was arrested this morning for breaking into the home of his Lexington Drive neighbor, Theresa Wachowiak.

The 56-year-old woman shot him before he escaped, and he survived.

It was a burglary gone bad for Haynie. Little did he know his target was within arms reach of a revolver.

"Terrible. Scary, really," said neighbor Joann Hatchell. "I looked and this guy was sitting here and I didn't recognize him."

19-year-old Justin "Brent" Haynie was slumped over Hatchell's picnic table. He'd been shot.

"I said, 'Oh my God, that's Mary's grandson'," Hatchell told News 12.

The young man lived next door and often helped Hatchell with yard work, which is why she never imagined he'd break into the home of another neighbor, 56-year-old Theresa Wachowiak.

Woken up at 3:30 a-m, Wachowiak was startled by the intruder.

"She was initially, but she's a strong lady," said Sgt. Calvin Chew of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

Sgt. Chew says what she did next may have saved her life: "She had a gun in her nightstand, and she was able to retrieve the gun during the assault and ended up shooting the suspect."

Shot in the chest, Haynie then left, leaving a bloody trail to Hatchell's yard.
News 12 found Haynie's cousin, Patrick, who didn't want his face shown on TV.

"I think that I'm glad he's still living, but maybe it'll make him not do some of the things he's done," Patrick Haynie said.

Hatchell, whose morning was unlike any other in her lifetime, fears what could have happened.

"Do you own a gun, and if not, do you want one now?" we asked her.

"Yes. I would love to have a gun," she said. "I'm telling you, you're not safe anymore."

Brent Haynie is still recovering from that gunshot. He faces several charges, including burglary, aggravated assault, kidnapping and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.

We're told relatives have not been allowed to visit Haynie in the hospital because he's been placed under arrest.