A businessman who aborted a burglary to his Battle Ground residence said
he’s not sure what might have happened if he hadn’t been armed.

Dennis Clark, president of Lafayette Glass Co., chased a would-be
burglar from his property Wednesday night and pursued him into Carroll
County during a vehicle pursuit that reached 80 mph.

A 17-year-old Lafayette boy was arrested Thursday afternoon by
Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department detectives on suspicion of
burglary and attempted burglary while armed, an offense that under
Indiana law must be filed in adult court, despite the suspect’s age.
The Journal and Courier will identify the suspect after official charges
are filed in adult court, which will likely be early next week.

Clark said he suspects the same person burglarized his home three nights
earlier, taking cash from his wife’s purse and three or four firearms
from his garage.

“I’ve often said that I would probably not shoot to kill someone,” said
Clark, 58, a long-time gun owner who is licensed to carry a handgun.
“On second thought now … I should have shot him in the leg.”

The confrontation started about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday at Clark’s home on
Indian Mound Trail off Pretty Prairie Road.

Clark said his wife was in a bathroom that opens to an outdoor hot tub
when she saw the door knob turn. She looked out and saw a man in the
back yard. She called to her husband, who grabbed his 9-mm semiautomatic
handgun and went out the front door, spotting the prowler in his front
yard.

Clark ordered the intruder to stop, and when he didn’t Clark fired a
shot into the ground.

Not knowing if there were others hiding in the darkness, Clark said he
ordered the man to step on to the porch, where both he and the suspect
would be in the light. When the man refused, he fired again into the
ground.

The man started backing away and then bolted for his vehicle, an
older-model blue Chevrolet pickup truck.

Clark fired again into the ground, trying to get the man to stop.

“I think he sensed that I was not going to shoot him,” Clark said.

Clark then got into his own vehicle and pursued the suspect. The pursuit
went into Battle Ground, then east on Indiana 225, north on Indiana 25,
and east on Carroll County Road 900 South.

Throughout the chase, Clark said, he was fumbling around in his vehicle
for his cellular telephone so he could alert police.

At one point during the chase, Clark said, the suspect stopped his truck
and motioned for
Clark to pull up beside him. But then, the suspect started backing up,
and Clark fired his gun in an attempt to shoot out the truck’s tires. He
missed, and the suspect sped away.

Seeing no evidence that the chase might end soon and fearing he might
run out of gas, Clark decided it was time to stop and locate his phone.
Clark never found his phone because he later concluded the intruder had
stolen it before their confrontation.

By the time he was back behind the wheel, he had lost track of the
suspect.

Police were at his residence when he returned home and found one of his
own loaded weapons lying on the lawn. He suspects the intruder had
attempted to steal it as well.

During the course of the chase, Clark was able to get the suspect’s
vehicle license number and, using that information along with the
physical description provided by Clark, police were able to identify the
suspect.

But Clark said Wednesday night wasn’t his first sleepless night.

“I think I felt worse after Sunday night than I did last night,” Clark
said. “Just the thought of knowing someone broke into your house while
you and your family were home.”

About 9 a.m. Monday, Clark discovered that someone had entered the house
the night before, taken his wife’s purse from a kitchen counter, carried
it to a screened-in porch and stole cash from it. The intruder also took
some guns from the home’s attached garage.

Since that time, Clark said, he had been keeping his pistol and
ammunition clip together near his bed. Normally, he said, he keeps the
two separate in secure locations.

Along with he and his wife, a son and two grandchildren were in the
house Sunday night.
His 25-year-old daughter was also home Wednesday night.

Detective Sgt. Steve Kohne of the sheriff’s department said Lafayette
patrol officers spotted the truck parked outside an apartment building
off Indiana 38 East early Thursday afternoon. County detectives watched
the vehicle until the suspect showed up. They followed him to the area
of 14th and Cincinnati streets and arrested him shortly after 4 p.m.

He was arrested on two warrants unrelated to Wednesday night’s burglary
attempt.

Police searched the apartment where they suspect the youth had been
staying and found a rifle, a shotgun, a pellet gun and a power drill
taken from Clark’s garage during the Sunday night break-in.

Clark said he’d sleep a lot easier now. He had feared the suspect might
return to his home with friends to retaliate.

“I feel better now, knowing he’s under arrest,” Clark said.

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