Posted on 12/12/2002 5:18:01 PM PST by clueless_expert
Two burglars looking for money to buy drugs instead found themselves staring down the barrels of two guns after they were ambushed during a break-in, authorities said.
Jacob A. McKissick, 26, of Seward, and Tara Ann Resch, 23, of the 300 block of Cypress Avenue, Johnstown, were captured by a gun-toting relative and his friend, authorities said.
The pair forced their way into the Aaron and Jessica Stuart residence in the 600 block of Fairfield Avenue, Lower Yoder Township, around 6 p.m. Tuesday, cops said. Thinking no one was home, they forced the door open searching for cash.
That’s when the homeowner’s brother John Stuart, 21, and his friend Osmar Almaguer, 17, pulled shotguns and ambushed the burglars, police said. “I cocked the gun right in his face,” John Stuart said in an interview from his Oak street residence. “I said, ‘Yo, you just robbed my nephew’s Christmas,’ ” he said. “I didn’t take the barrel off him until the police got there.”
The arrests bring to a close a harrowing week for the Stuart family. Their tidy home in suburban Johnstown had been burglarized twice before by the same man, family members said, but police lacked evidence to make an arrest.
McKissick, a one-time family friend, had in the past performed home improvement chores there to pay off debts. But like so many people who police said become addicted, McKissick turned to crime.
“He knew when we had to work and would call here to make sure we weren’t home,” Aaron Stuart said from his Fairfield Avenue home. “I never thought it would come to this, someone stealing from us.”
McKissick burglarized the residence twice before being caught, said Sgt. George Musulin of the West Hills Regional Police. McKissick stole an unknown amount of change from a water jug in the basement between 7 and 8 p.m. Saturday, authorities believe. He also made off with more than $400 from a bedroom Monday night, Musulin said in an interview from the police station on Luzerne Street. “He (McKissick) knew where he could get some quick cash for heroin,” Musulin said.
With a wife and small child to protect, Aaron Stuart realized something had to be done. He asked his brother – a student at Cambria County Area Community College – to watch the house. But John Stuart wasn’t about to confront thieving druggies without help. He called on Almaguer, student at Greater Johnstown High School, and two friends: A 12-gauge shotgun and a .30-caliber rifle. They loaded the weapons, hid in the basement, and waited in the darkness. “I thought it was going to be a long night,” John Stuart said. “I brought a checkerboard and magazines.”
The wait wasn’t long.
Within 15 minutes, a car’s headlights were spotted. And then shadows emerged outside the door. “I got a little scared. The adrenaline was pumping,” John Stuart said. “I saw him taking big steps – like the Grinch.” Then McKissick forced the door. He and Resch crept inside, police said. Within seconds they found gun barrels pointed at their heads. “I said ‘Don’t move. Don’t move,’ ” John Stuart said. “He just put his head down. Robbing a house three nights in a row. How stupid could he be?”
The two were arraigned yesterday by District Justice Max Pavlovich of Richland Township. McKissick was charged with burglary, theft, trespass and loitering and prowling. Resch was charged with burglary, criminal conspiracy, trespass and loitering and prowling. The pair had met at a drug rehabilitation clinic and plotted the burglaries to buy heroin, Musulin said. No charges will be filed against Stuart or Almaguer, he said.
“I think people are tired of being victimized,” Musulin said. “Someone has the right to protect their home.”
McKissick and Resch are being held in Cambria County Jail on $10,000 bond each.
©Tribune Democrat 2002
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...
Finally, my first post.
C_E
And a good one! Thanks C_E, and welcome to FR!
That's right! Pretty soon all the "stupid criminals" will be in the clink. Then we'll be able to concentrate on the more serious types. Sheesh.
C_E
There's stupid.
There's stupid, stupid.
And then there is Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.
From my hometown newspaper even. Ya' done good.
Children with guns, aaaaiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee! Calling Sarah Brady!!!!!! Guns just make a bad situation worse! She told me so herself! Why, there would have been peace everlasting and joy on earth, except that these guns were pulled on poor, alternative individuals.
Do I really need a /sarcasm here?
This is clueless's first post. He did good.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.