ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — A couple in Ross County stopped a burglary-in-progress after they held a man at gunpoint.
It happened on Mingo Road when a husband and wife were home alone and awoke to a man trying to break into their home.
“Get out of here! We both have a gun! We are going to shoot you if you kick that door down,” the woman screamed at the man as she was on the phone with a 9-1-1 dispatcher. According to deputies, a man busted through a garage door at around 11:30 p.m., which prompted the couple to spring from their beds and grab their guns.
Deputies described the couple as “elderly” and said that both the man and woman had guns as the burglar broke down the door to their garage, and continued to try to get inside the home by breaking down a second door. The couple told law enforcement that the man appeared to be high on drugs and that they did not know who he was. They also told deputies that the man was shouting that he “wanted to marry” their daughter, but the woman told law enforcement that they do not have children.
“I swear to God, if he kicks down this door, I’m going to shoot him! I’m not kidding, I’m going to have to shoot him. He’s a big guy and I weigh 100 pounds!”
The gentleman who lives in the home was disabled and could be heard yelling in the background of the call, telling the deranged burglar to “come back to tomorrow” in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The woman — who stayed on the phone with dispatchers — was terrified as she and her husband waited for deputies to arrive.
“You’re going to have to hurry! I don’t want to have to kill this man, but the way he is, it’s going to be him or me.”
Deputies arrived on the scene and arrested the man before he could get inside the living quarters of the house.