June 25, 2018—The owner of an auto repair shop in Temple City, Calif., took matters into his own hands recently, to end a string of burglaries at his business. The shop owner began sleeping at his business with a .380 pistol close at hand, in case intruders returned. And, lo and behold, on June 18, two male intruders returned, and the auto repair shop owner shot and wounded one of the men, then held him until deputies arrived to make an arrest.
“You can only take so much,” the owner told a local NBC TV affiliate (the owner’s name was not released, due to concerns for his safety).
The owner said he awoke at 3:45 a.m. on June 18, when he heard thieves in his workplace.
“As soon as they came in, I was able to shoot,” he said.
When Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, they saw the shop owner holding one of the two suspects on the ground, said Lt. Tom McNeal. The other suspect took off in a car, lost control, and veered onto a curb roughly half a block away, before running into a home. Deputies found him in a front yard and arrested him
Lt. McNeal said it appears the shop owner’s use of force was justified, noting that the shop owner “has the right to defend that business.”
