I had a recent "bad guy" incident in which light discipline solved everything. I spotted intruders literally at my window, and in under 60 seconds I had all the interior lights off, exterior lights on, and had armed myself. Then I called 9-1-1. The police apprehended the (three) criminals at another neighbor's home. They were armed and had done occupied home invasions before. One of their comments was that they left my home and went to that house because "it was creepy" that someone would turn the lights off after seeing them. I think they're stupid that they didn't go home. The police took ten minutes!
What I did was an almost exact duplicate of what I had practiced two nights before in reviewing how I should respond to someone breaking in. Practice is everything.
I am glad your BG’s were not the sharpest tools in the shed. Kinda makes sense, though. If you’re a run-of-the-mill BG, you ain’t too bright. Three. They brought their own support group.