Sacramento Homeowners Turn Tables On Suspected Burglar, Catch Him In Garage
SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) — A Sacramento family took unusual action to turn the tables on a suspected burglar inside their home.
It started out like any normal Sunday for this Sacramento family.
"We were having a cup of coffee, looked over and noticed a screen on the ground," said homeowner Don Fravel.
That's what tipped them off first, the window screen laying in the flower bed. They looked over and noticed their garage door was slightly open—the garage door they lock every single night.
"I went in the garage and immediately noticed my tools gone," he said.
The entire wall that's usually covered in tools was bare. They thought they were long gone, as Kathy Long called 911. Only minutes later, Don noticed they weren't alone.
"He hears a noise, I'm talking to my mom I said, 'I got to go,'" she said. "I look and Don has him picked up and putting him on the workbench."
Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies say Joseph Whittington was inside their garage, eating and drinking beer from their refrigerator, and trying to steal from the family.
"There was a jar of pickled green beans that we did, two pounds of bacon taken out. French fries out of the freezer," Long said.
Deputies believe the suspect had been hiding up in the rafters when they first walked in to check out the scene and fell trying to escape.
"I think he was crawling across because that's what gave way," Fravel said. "You can see the board still laying there."
While Fravel held Whittington down, Long ran inside to get a gun.
"I'm holding the gun, pointing it at him and he told the guy, get on the ground. [Don] walks over and takes the gun from me, I walk back in the house and called the police and told them, my husband's got the guy at gunpoint," she said.
Deputies arrived in minutes and were able to arrest Whittington without anyone getting seriously injured.
CBS13 spoke to Whittington at the Sacramento County Jail where he denied he was trying to rob the family. He says he was on his way home when he noticed two people walking out from Fravel's home and noticed they had dropped beers.
Whittington says he simply went for the drink and tried to warn the family that someone had just been inside, and he says he walked around the back to do just that.
"I just walked by at the same I saw the alcohol getting dropped they were running off, probably up to no good," he said. "That's all I was trying to get at, is the drink that's what I do, I'm an alcoholic, you know."
Whittington is charged with burglary, possession of drugs and other charges.
