South Prairie is a small town in Pierce County, Wash., with a population around 500. But as residents there know, small towns aren’t immune to crime—so many citizens are armed and prepared.
Such was the case Monday morning, when home invaders broke a window to a home a little before 10 in the morning. After removing the screen to get inside, the burglars were apparently expecting to have free rein in an empty house. Instead, they were startled to come face to face with a man bearing a rifle and shouting. They immediately turned and fled, speeding off in an extended-cab truck.
The two men were eventually caught and arrested. This same home had been burglarized less than two weeks before, when guns and a laptop were stolen, and police are still trying to determine whether these suspects were also responsible for the first burglary.