Thursday, February 19, 2009

Sampson County Farmer Captures Burglar

Sampson County, North Carolina

From the February 13, 2009 Dunn (N.C.) Daily Record:
A Fayetteville man's plan to rob a Sampson County man's home went awry Tuesday when he got a surprise - an unexpected meeting with the home's owner, complete with a .22-caliber rifle.

According to the Sampson County Sheriff's Office and the homeowners, Richard Corderro Woods, 21, of Asbury Road in Fayetteville was arrested Tuesday morning after Bryan Tew came home and allegedly saw Mr. Woods coming out the back door of his home in the 600 block of Eldon Store Road in the Mingo community.

Mr. Tew, a local turkey farmer, said he was driving his tractor down the road to fill it with fuel around 11:30 when he noticed an unfamiliar Buick Roadmaster with a burgundy top parked in his garage with the trunk open.

He said he parked his John Deere in front of the car, jumped down and was reaching behind the seat of his pickup truck for his rifle when he heard Mr. Woods kick open the back door, heard broken glass and saw him step outside with an armload of electronics, Wii games and a jar of change.

"You ever see those cartoons where their eyes get big as saucers? That's what he looked like," Mr. Tew said. "I yelled at him and when he saw that gun, he sat the stuff down on the freezer near the back door turned around and ran back into the house."

Mr. Tew said he chased Mr. Woods and caught up with him when Mr. Woods slipped on the linoleum near the front door of the home.

"I told him to stay down and put his hands out," Mr. Tew said. "He was saying he was sorry. He said he'd pay for the glass in the door if I'd just let him go. He said he had to go to the bathroom.

"You know, a friend of mine said your body only produces about a teaspoon of adrenaline in a lifetime," he said. "Well, I think I used my whole teaspoon."

Mr. Tew said since the incident he has wondered time and again what he would have done if Mr. Woods had had a gun.

"I told the deputies, "The thing is my rifle wasn't loaded,' " Mr. Tew said. "They laughed and said, "Hey, that's all right. He didn't know that.' "

Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said as it turns out, Mr. Tew had apprehended a suspect his office had been looking for since the middle of January in connection with several break-ins in the area.

"We didn't know who he was, but we were looking for the automobile," he said. "Every time the automobile was spotted in that end of the county, he was gone by the time we got there.

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