Santa Fe, Texas

From the Galveston County Daily News of August 8, 2007

Homeowner holds suspect at gunpoint

A man who found a burglar in his home Tuesday morning held the intruder at gunpoint until sheriff’s deputies arrived.

Just after 3 a.m., a woman reportedly heard noises in her house in the 1500 block of Cemetery Road, north of the city limits. She woke her husband, who walked toward the light someone had turned on in the house.

However, the homeowner did not venture out of the bedroom empty-handed.

“He grabbed his shotgun,” said Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo, sheriff’s office spokesman.

When the man found an intruder in his house, he pointed the weapon and waited.

Sheriff’s deputies received the 911 call of the break-in at 3:16 a.m. and arrived three minutes later.

Tuttoilmondo also said anyone facing a home break-in should exercise “the utmost caution” before engaging an intruder.

“People have an absolute right to defend their property and their loved ones, but we encourage people to call 911 the instant they discover their homes are being broken into and remain in a safe place,” he said.

Santa Fe resident Karel Christopher Phillips, 17, was in jail Tuesday, under $15,000 bond. He faces a charge of burglary of a habitation, which carries a possible prison term of two to 20 years, as well as a fine of up to $10,000.