Knoxville, Tennessee

From the Knoxville News Sentinel of November 16, 2006

Lawmaker turns into lawman for the day

Burchett nabs teens he says were breaking into warehouse on Amherst

State Sen. Tim Burchett says he caught a group of youngsters during a break-in Wednesday, held them at gunpoint and fed them chocolate-chip cookies until Knox County sheriff's deputies arrived.

Burchett said the youths had knocked the lock off a warehouse on Amherst Road where he keeps old motorcycles and parts and gone inside when he "snuck up" through nearby woods to the building about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"I got four of them. One got away," said Burchett, adding that deputies told him the fifth had been arrested later. "I think that's pretty good. I'm sick of crime. I'm sick of being a victim. I've been staying up at night trying to catch these guys."

Martha Dooley, spokeswoman for the sheriff's department, confirmed that arrests had occurred at Burchett's warehouse, but no report had been filed late Wednesday and she could not provide details.

Burchett said that three motorcycles and a security camera had been stolen from the warehouse over the past two weeks and he thought, since the burglaries apparently occurred after school hours, that school-age teens might be involved.

He said he had previously stood watch, sometimes with a friend or his father, without success. On Wednesday, he learned that Karns High School had been closed for the day because of a plumbing problem and decided to try again to catch the youths in the act.

Burchett said he called 911, told the person answering that he was armed and planned to apprehend the suspects.

"The lady said, 'Are you going to shoot them?' and I said, 'No, I'm not going to shoot some kid over a dad-gum motorcycle'."

The state senator, who said he holds a conceal-carry permit, had a recently purchased 9 mm Glock pistol and a .25 automatic Keltec as a "backup," according to his account. He said he brandished the larger pistol and told the youths to "put your hands up" and then to "put your hands behind your head."

"One of them said, 'Well, which one do you want - hands up or behind the head?' and I said, 'Either one'," Burchett said.

He said they waited about 15 minutes "in the rain and mud" for deputies to arrive. During the period, he said, the youths began talking - one of them basically admitting to the break-in - and he gave them some of the cookies that a friend had given him earlier in the day.

Burchett said he understood from the deputies that one of the youths was 18 years old and the others were juveniles. He said he intends to press charges, fearing that if punishment is left to parents "they might take away the GameBoy for one afternoon."

Burchett said he had "almost been obsessed" with catching the burglars and had "staked out" the warehouse on several previous occasions.

"It was an exhilarating experience" to finally catch the culprits, he said.