# Home owner 1 Bad guy well



## Redwolf (Nov 29, 2008)

this is 1 for the good guys,

70 Year Old Woman Defends Herself
"...Get, get, get! You have more to fear from me!..."
by WNDU.com
http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/37073429.html

It's not uncommon to hear stories of people defending their homes and themselves from intruders-- but when it's a 70-year-old woman, that story is a bit more uncommon.

It's exactly what happened in St. Joseph County on Sunday night, after an intruder broke into an elderly woman's home on Portage Road.

The woman held the man at gunpoint until police arrived. That man is 28-year-old Cyrus Brown. Brown is being held in jail on a number of charges, including burglary and intimidation.

The woman who defended herself is Sandra. She asked us not to use her last name. News center 16 spoke to her by phone Monday night, while she recovered in her hospital room. She's being treated for heart problems, problems she didn't have until Sunday night's scare.

As you'll hear, this 70-year-old is a gutsy lady who wasn't about to let anybody mess with her.

It was all started about nine o'clock Sunday night. Sandra says she was in the midst of splitting wood for her fire and making vegetable soup, when she heard a ruckus outside.

"All of a sudden, I'm hearing fast footsteps around my yard, around my deck," says Sandra.

That's when she says she grabbed her gun and called 911. Moments later-- the intruder-- 28-year-old Cyrus Brown, broke through her back patio door, pushing his way through the glass.

"Immediately, I felt there was danger because he was so desperate," explains the 70-year-old. "He's in the kitchen by the stove, I told him to get down on the floor. I said if you come any closer to me, I will shoot you to kill. I told him to sit down, don't move, and I want to see your hands at all times," adds Sandra.

News center 16 obtained the 911 call that Sandra made. In the background, you can hear her demanding the suspect get down.

911 call: Dispatch: "Ma'am, where is he at in the house?"
Sandra: "Get, get, get! You have more to fear from me!"

911 call:
Dispatch: "Ma'am, are you holding him at gunpoint?"
Sandra: "Yes, I am. And if he moves towards me, I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill. I don't want to have to kill him."

In that moment, Sandra says she was glad she had a gun and knew how to use it-- just in case.

"I thought that this could turn out badly because I heard of other people being murdered in their house, but I decided, I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I owe that to my children," she explains. "Guns aren't all bad, only in the hands of the criminal and guns can be a good defense."

In the end, you can hear the relief in Sandra's voice, as the police arrive at her back door.

911 call:
Sandra: "Cops!"
Police: "Get down, get down!"
Dispatch: "Ma'am, can you put the gun down for me please?"
Sandra: "It's down."
Dispatch: "Great, great, ok!"

If you'd like to listen to Sandra's 911 call in its entirety, we have a link at the top of this story.

Sandra is a mother of three and has several grandchildren.

She's set to have a procedure on her heart this week. As you can imagine, this whole situation has caused the 70-year-old a lot of stress.

She says she hopes others can learn from her story and think about protecting themselves. She's hoping to have a neighborhood meeting in her area to discuss safety in homes.

***************************************

ORIGINAL STORY: NEIGHBORHOOD REACTION

A man is in custody Sunday night after police say he tried to break into a home on St. Joseph County's northwest side.

It happened in the 51000-block of Portage near Brick Road.

Police say 28-year-old Cyrus Brown drove off the road and hit a utility pole on Portage. He then attempted to break into a nearby home.

When police arrived, they found an elderly female named Sandra holding the driver at gunpoint, awaiting their arrival. Sandra tells us she was scared to death and yelled at Brown to stay down. She says he begged her not to shoot.

"I would give her thumbs up and tell her to keep up the great work and I'm really proud of her," Lanore Evins, Sandra's neighbor, says. "He probably didn't want anyone to know that happened to him. That's probably a little embarrassing for him."

"He was a little combative at first," explains Sgt. Bill Redman, St. Joseph County Sheriff Department. "The officers had to wrestle with him to get him to comply with their orders. He didn't mess with the homeowner though."

Sandra is in the hospital with heart problems she says stemmed from the incident. She says her doctors say the situation caused too much pressure for her. But Sandra hopes her story inspires others to stand up for themselves.

"Doesn't surprise me about any of us around here. We all fight what's ours," says Phyllis Barkley, Sandra's good friend. "Don't mess with the gray haired people! We still got a lot of fight in us."


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## bruce333 (Sep 1, 2006)

Good find. Great story!


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## BT2Flip (Jan 1, 2009)

THATS AWESOME ! Glad for her , that it ended that way ... (For her)


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## kg333 (May 19, 2008)

Did anyone listen to the 911 call linked in the story? The dispatcher sounded more worried about the lady accidentally shooting the guy than she did about the lady being harmed...and I wonder who the responding officers were yelling at to "get down"? The 70-year old lady?

KG


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## bruce333 (Sep 1, 2006)

kg333 said:


> The dispatcher sounded more worried about the lady accidentally shooting the guy than she did about the lady being harmed...and I wonder who the responding officers were yelling at to "get down"? The 70-year old lady?
> 
> KG


I'm sure they were yelling at the guy. She had put the gun down long before the dispatcher was telling her to.

I wouldn't want her to shoot the guy accidentally either. How do you think She would feel if that happened? Its one thing to shoot someone because they are trying to hurt you. But, shooting someone accidentally, even if they have broken in to your home, would be hard to live with.


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## kg333 (May 19, 2008)

bruce333 said:


> I'm sure they were yelling at the guy. She had put the gun down long before the dispatcher was telling her to.
> 
> I wouldn't want her to shoot the guy accidentally either. How do you think She would feel if that happened? Its one thing to shoot someone because they are trying to hurt you. But, shooting someone accidentally, even if they have broken in to your home, would be hard to live with.


I certainly agree, shooting anyone in any situation accidentally would be hard to live with, but it seems that would be the woman's responsibility instead of the dispatcher's. It just surprises me that the BG getting accidentally shot seemed to be one of the dispatcher's main worries, and not the woman being harmed by him. That was the impression the audio clip gave me, anyway...I might be mis-interpreting it.

KG


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## bruce333 (Sep 1, 2006)

Without going back to listen again, seems to me that was about the time the cops were showing up, so maybe the dispatcher was worried about them getting shot, or hearing a shot and coming in and shooting whoever had the gun in their hand.


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## bdp2000 (Apr 22, 2008)

Sounds to me like she was still talking, fairly calmy, I might add, to the 911 dispatch, while the cops rushed the intruder.

Seem to me to be a well handled situation all around.

+1 for Granny!!!:smt023


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## ratrodfink (Dec 29, 2008)

Sounds like my granny. Old over and under behind the bedroom door.


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## nky1129 (Nov 3, 2008)

What a great story of responsible HD. And from a Granny! It sounds like she did everything right. The best part is that she didn't have to shoot him. I hope the local LEOs make sure that the other inmates know how the whole thing went down. You just don't mess with Grandparents. That's so low.


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## will (Jan 12, 2009)

I saw this story on Fox news. This was a great story. The best thing was she told them she didn't want to have to kill him but she would.


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