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Homeowner restrains intruder with duct tape until police show up


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE/CNN) – A New Mexico homeowner caught a burglar breaking into his home and, with the help of a neighbor, restrained the suspect with duct tape until police arrived.

Albuquerque Police said surveillance video captured Mark Thompson breaking into the home, and then getting a little too comfortable inside the residence.

In the security video, Thompson is seen casually walking around the house Sunday afternoon, putting on a jacket, and even turning on the TV.

At one point, he grabs a beer from the fridge. The homeowner got an alert that there was movement in his home. He watched Thompson on his phone and called his neighbor.

Shandra Vestal lives across the street from that homeowner and didn’t hesitate to help.

“I went to my garage, my husband and I. We got two pistols. We met him at the cul-de-sac. He blocked off the entry of the cul-de-sac to make sure if he did have a vehicle, the man entering the home wouldn’t be able to escape,” she said. “As he pulled in, I passed him this 45 and then I got the other Ruger.”

That’s when the woman, her husband, and the homeowner confronted Thompson.

“Micah and I went into the home with two of the loaded weapons. Micah announced himself to the perpetrator saying, ‘I have a loaded weapon, get down on your hands and knees,'” she said. “At that time, I came up behind him and we got the individual on his hands and knees to lay down.”

At that point, they made sure he had no way of escaping.

“We got his arms and his feet duct taped. Then we picked him up, carried him out to the front yard and waited for the police to show up,” said Vestal.

When police showed up, they found Thompson on the ground, his hands and ankles taped.

“The police had told us that the home prior that he had broken into. He was wearing the same clothes he had stolen from that home when he broke into Micah’s house,” Vestal said.

This time, Thompson tried to talk his way out of trouble.

“He truly said, ‘I’m not trying to steal anything, I just want to be friends,'” she said.

The homeowner and neighbor said they were both confident in their ability to detain the suspect, because they had both served in the army.

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Originally posted by arfmel:
I like this Shandra Vestal. I wish I had a neighbor like that.

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Originally posted by konata88:
Curious -- at what point did the residents actually call the police?

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Originally posted by konata88:
Curious -- at what point did the residents actually call the police?