Lodi, California

From the November 2, 2006 Lodi News-Sentinel:

A homeowner shot and wounded a drunken man early Wednesday because she thought he was trying to break into her house in southwest Lodi, police said.

Benjamin Ortega, who turned 21 the same day, was hit twice in the 300 block of Finch Run Drive around 1:45 a.m. and hospitalized with what police said were not life-threatening injuries to the leg and abdomen.

The resident, Noelle Fabrizio, 38, fired a total of four shots with her .380-caliber handgun, Officer Dale Eubanks said.

Police found no damage to the home, but they did find a wet spot on the side fence and believe Ortega had entered her property to urinate, Eubanks said.

It was the second time in less than four months that Ortega was arrested after allegedly urinating in public, and the previous incident resulted in a court order that he not consume alcohol until October 2007.

Tests Wednesday showed he had a blood-alcohol content level of 0.27 percent when he was hospitalized after the shooting, Eubanks said. In comparison, that is more than triple California's legal driving limit.

Ortega was shot with a small handgun that was registered to a friend of Fabrizio's, Eubanks said. Fabrizio was not arrested and the case remains under investigation. Fabrizio said Wednesday night that she shot Ortega to protect her children.

UPDATE: From the December 19, 2006 Lodi News-Sentinel:

A woman who shot and wounded a man outside her southwest Lodi home will not face charges, the District Attorney's office said Monday.

At 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 1, Noelle Fabrizio, 38, fired four shots with her .38-caliber handgun and hit Benjamin Ortega twice — in the leg and abdomen.

A spokesman for the District Attorney's Office said the case was declined Thursday because "it was a self-defense issue" and because there is "a lack of evidence."