Deatsville, Alabama

From the Montgomery Advertiser of September 20, 2007

Homeowner aids in arrests of two

The homeowner normally wouldn't have been home in the middle of the day. He should have been at work. But he came home at 1 p.m. Tuesday to check on a cable repair job.

Lucky for him he did.

When the Deatsville man pulled into his driveway in the Dusty Trail neighborhood, he saw a strange car and noticed the front door was standing open. He suspected something was wrong. And he was right.

Inside, two would-be burglars were ransacking the house.

"He went inside and confronted them," said Capt. Joe Sedinger of the Autauga County Sheriff's Department. "They told him they were looking for somebody who owed them money. He didn't buy it. They ran out, he met them around front and shot the tire out."

The victim, whom Sedinger would not identify, used a 20-gauge shotgun to blast the rear tire of a Kia coupe as the suspects attempted to speed away. His aim was true, and it helped deputies make an arrest.

Sgt. Casey Ott found the suspects a short time later along a secluded dirt road, attempting to change the flat tire.

"One of them looked like he was going to run," Ott said. "I drew down on them and got them on the ground. I called for backup, and help came pretty quick."

Arrested on burglary charges were Gary Arnold Alvies, 22, of 409 Mockingbird St., Prattville, and Aaron Michael Pace, 22, of 208 Deer Trace, Prattville.

They are being held in the Autauga County Metro Jail under no bonds pending a parole revocation hearing, courthouse records show. Both are on parole for theft-related charges, the records showed.

Sheriff Herbie Johnson applauded the quick action of the homeowner.

"A man has the right to protect himself, his family and his property," said Johnson. "I'm so proud of him. I'm thinking about buying him a box of shells so he can keep that shotgun loaded."