This story is an amazing true story and it also hits close to home for me. On April 8, 2008 at around 12:00am my sister-in-law Mae was awakened from her bed by the sound of her dogs barking. The barking wasn't a usual bark. It was alarming barking. The kind of bark that you know you had better take heed to. Opening her eyes and listening intently she then saw the sky light in her master bathroom light up. She realized then that her motion lights in the back of the house had kicked on.

Scared to death and home alone with three small children, as my brother James had already gone to work for the night and would not be returning until morning. Mae knew that she had to get out of bed and do something. She thought that she had heard a noise. Remembering that James kept a pellet pistol in a drawer beside the bed. She slowly and quietly opened the drawer and got out the pistol. Frightened half to death she crept out of the bedroom and into the livingroom with gun in hand. She got as far as the half counter that divided the livingroom from the kitchen. When she spotted someone standing on the other side of the counter rifling around for something. It was an invader. Dressed all in black and sporting a black ski mask, just like the creepy robbers you would see on tv. Just then he spotted her, he was startled to see her. Not thinking about anything but her and her children's safety she never spoke a word. She just raised the pistol up and took aim right at his head. The burglar seeing the gun turned and ran for the back door just as Mae had pulled the trigger. The gun made a loud "pop" sound. The would be robber jumped out the back door so fast that he never hit a stair on the way out.

He was gone. Thank God. Because it was after Mae had pulled the trigger that she found out that the gun wasn't loaded. She quickly got the phone and called the police. She then called James at work to summons him home. Mae fearing that the robber would realize that the gun was empty and come back had James stay on his cell phone with her until he arrived home.

Four state troopers arrived to take her report. The troopers were deducting that the intruder probably had ties to them because of his bold behavior. They thought that maybe he knew that she was home alone. And because of his arrogant behavior of walking right past the barking dogs and setting off a motion light and still not stopping there. The troopers asked them not to speak of this to anyone while they were investigating. If their theory was right they did not want to alert any potential suspects.

James stayed home from work the following night. Mae was still worried that the "man in black" would return. The second night James had no choice but to return to work. While Mae was still scared and unable to sleep little did she know what was occurring at her neighbor's house two doors down the road. An older couple residing there was about to be the next target.

It was about 8:30pm, the couple had already settled into bed for the night when the wife was awakened by a noise coming from the basement. She awakened her husband and alerted him to the noise in the basement. Her husband went for his 12 gage shot gun and headed for the cellar door. When he opened the door there stood a man in black with a black ski mask at the top of his stairs. The intruder now had a loaded shot gun aiming for him. The husband quickly commanded the burglar to the floor while his wife dialed 911. The husband held the shotgun to the back of burglar's head, with his faced pressed into the floor until the police arrived to apprehend him.

After questioning it was determined that the would be robber had no connections to either of his would be victims. During questioning it was also determined that the man was not from the area and had no family residing in the area either. The police did however find illegal drugs on his person during arrest.