Leda Smith of Lake Lynn, Pennsylvania, returned from church to find that her house was in the process of being burglarized. So what did the 85-year-old great-grandma do? She didn't exactly cower in fear:
"I saw him move by my keyboard near the wall but I just walked right on past him to the bedroom and got my gun," Smith said, noting that she started keeping the .22-caliber revolver by her bed after a burglary at a neighboring home several weeks ago.
Smith said she then found the boy hiding and confronted him. "I said, 'What are you doing in my house?'" Smith said during an interview Monday with WPXI-TV, Channel 11 in Pittsburgh, a news partner with the Herald-Standard. "He just kept saying he didn't do it."
Smith ordered the teen to turn around and not to run and then had him pick up the telephone and dial 911. She then ordered the boy to give her the telephone after placing the call and she told dispatchers about the intruder.
Officials from 911 stayed on the telephone with Smith as she had the boy lay facedown and spread-eagled on the floor.
Don't mess with this grandma! Links: Article at Herald Standard by Josh Krysak | Video clip of Alan Jennings of WPXI-TV interviewing LEDA
Though North Carolina General Statutes have no provision for citizen's arrests, detention by private persons is permitted and apply to both civilians and police officers outside their jurisdiction.[25]
Detention, being different from an arrest in the fact that a detainee may not be transported without consent, is permitted where probable cause exists that one has committed a felony, breach of peace, physical injury to another person, or theft or destruction of property.[26]
I wonder if the gun was even loaded. I can imagine her standing over him, barking "Do you feel lucky, punk?"
Good for her - not that I approve of the proliferation of guns - but good for her, anyways.
Furthermore, haven't you ever heard of a citizen's arrest? I may not want a gun in my house and I never plan on owning one. But that woman did EXACTLY the right thing in that situation. She did not discharge her weapon. She kept a level head and she was smart about it. Just because I don't feel comfortable holding a firearm does not mean I should strip away the rights of others to LEGALLY procure and own one. She owned a small handgun, not a semi-automatic (which I do have issues with private citizens owning, but that's a whole different debate.)
Bean - you're being very closeminded. Get over yourself.