Homeowner foils `home invasion’
Man chases intruders, shoots robber. Dog stops 3 in separate incident
Journal staff report

In two apparently unrelated incidents Sunday and yesterday, robbers burst into Akron homes with guns and demanded money.

One homeowner fought back, shooting one of the intruders and putting him in the hospital. In the other case, a Rottweiler chased away the robbers.

Both incidents are known to police as “home invasions,” in which robbers burst into homes with guns and demand money or items.

In the first incident — about 5:25 a.m. Sunday — three men with guns drawn broke into the front door of a home in the 1000 block of Kelly Avenue in southeast Akron.

They confronted one man sleeping on a couch and demanded cash and jewelry.

The homeowner, Nolan Kendrick, 34, overheard the commotion from a back bedroom. He came out with a handgun, confronted the robbers and fired.

All three fled, the wounded man on foot and the other two in a car. The homeowner took off after them on foot, firing his weapon. Police said they were uncertain if he hit either of the other two.

The two robbers in the car fled westbound on Reed Avenue toward Arlington Street in a beige four-door car.

The wounded man stumbled to Triplett Boulevard and Kelly Avenue — a block from the home where he was shot, according to Akron Detective Sgt. John Callahan. He was taken into custody while he was talking on a pay phone at that corner.

He was taken to the hospital and will be questioned and charged when he recovers from his wounds, Callahan said.

Police did not release the name of the wounded man pending charges.

Callahan said a similar incident — apparently involving different robbers — occurred early yesterday morning. In that incident, three men with guns kicked in a door of a home in the 500 block of Kenmore Boulevard, entered and demanded money of the 22-year-old female resident.

As soon as they confronted the woman, a Rottweiler appeared.

One of the robbers shot at it three times, wounding it once in the face. Then all three fled, Callahan said. He said the dog survived.

Police asked anyone with information to call them at 330-375-2490.