Homeowner Ray Ridgeway says it happened just after 6am Wednesday, when he heard the glass shatter and the commotion at his front door, so he cocked his gun. Then as one round fell out of the chamber, he says three suspects took off running and jumped into a small pickup truck.
Police recovered that abandoned truck in a ditch several miles away on Maxey Road near Flemming. That led to a search for the three suspects with a police helicopter in the air and patrol cars on the ground.
The homeowner says he and his family feel violated but he's glad he was ready.
"I don't know if it's that they saw me through the broken window or they heard when I cocked my gun," Ridgeway said. "I don't know what it was, but that's when they left."
Ridgeway says the burglars left behind a pair of shorts and a machete the size of a yard stick. Police have taken both. They are still patrolling on the ground, looking for those suspects.
