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South Sacramento Mom Says She Held Burglar At Bay With Machete

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - It was rude awakening for a south Sacramento women. She woke up to find a complete stranger in her home sleeping on her couch.

But she didn't run and hide. Instead, she grabbed a machete.

She says she was never afraid and that her faith in God - and the big machete - got her through the ordeal.

"That's when I unsheathed the machete and I said, 'No, you need to get back. You need to sit down right here and wait for the cops to get here,'" Teryl Parnell told CBS13's Ron Jones on Monday.

Parnell is an IT specialist for Sacramento County, but she's also handy with sharp objects.

"I'm not afraid and I know exactly how to use it," she said.

Recently she woke up from a deep sleep only to find an alleged burglar sleeping on her couch with his feet up.

"Typical mom, right? I just go over there and slap his feet off the couch. I'm like 'Are you kidding me?'" she said.

Parnell says while the burglar was still dazed, she quickly found where he broke in.

"So, this is the last room that I checked and then I realized then 'Oh my god, this guy kicked a big old hole in my window,'" she said

Her Chinese food had been eaten "and it's so hard to find good Chinese food to me," she said.

Her valuables were on the floor ready to go.

Trying to keep him from getting away, she offered him some coffee, but brought back the machete instead.

"You need to sit right here and you need to sit and wait for the cops because you're going to jail," she said she told him.

She said he thought about running...

"I was like, 'No son, no son, you're staying.' And I was like, 'Don't try to get up because I've been nice to you at this point.'"

He apparently got the point.

Deputies showed up and put the cuffs on 25-year-old Christopher Weaver. Parnell took a picture of him getting handcuffed.

"You're in my house, you're invading my space. This is what God has blessed me with," she said. "I'm going to stand in here and fight."

Weaver was released on bail but was recently picked up again, this time for driving a stolen car.

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