(WA) Mom with shotgun foils burglary 03-05-03

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20030305/southsound/14417.shtml
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Mom With Shotgun Foils Burglary Suspects
SCOTT GUTIERREZ THE OLYMPIAN

YELM — A 44-year-old Yelm woman used an unloaded shotgun to ward off
two teenage boys who broke into her home, authorities said.

The boys, ages 14 and 15, entered through the woman’s garage door. A
third boy, 16, stood as a lookout on the street, communicating through a
walkie-talkie, Thurston County sheriff’s Capt. Dan Kimball said.

All three were arrested shortly afterward because the woman was able to
call 9-1-1 before they broke in. Sheriff’s deputies and a Yelm police
officer were on their way to the residence when she confronted the
suspects, Kimball said.

The burglary was reported about 9:30 a.m. Monday in the 16800 block of
Flume Road Southeast.

The boys targeted the woman’s home because one of the suspects had been
her son’s friend.
They had somehow obtained the electronic code for her mounted garage
door opener and gained entry through the garage, Kimball said.

But the two would-be burglars tripped over a threshold as they entered
and fell onto the woman’s floor. They glanced up to see a shotgun barrel
drawn on them, Kimball said.

“One fell down and the other one fell down on top of him,” Kimball said.

She told them to get out of the house and they fled. Officers arrested
them outside the home, Kimball said.

The woman was exercising when she first noticed two of the teens
approach the house and ring her doorbell. When she didn’t answer, the
two boys tried to force the door open, according to a deputy’s report.

The teens were looking for cash, according to the report.

The woman, who told deputies she was frightened, grabbed her husband’s
shotgun when she heard them forcing their way into the house, according
to the report.

The two youngest boys were booked on suspicion of residential burglary.
The 16-year-old, who was arrested a few blocks away, was booked for
investigation of conspiracy to commit burglary, Kimball said.