CA - Rural resident shoots at suspected burglar

http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/308490.html

Rural resident shoots at suspected burglar

Tuesday, Dec 11 2007

Another Bakersfield resident has fired a gun at an alleged intruder.

A homeowner in the 7200 block of Lindsay Road in rural southwest Bakersfield

armed himself with a handgun Monday evening and fired a shot at a stranger

trespassing in his fenced yard, the Kern County Sheriff's Department

reported Tuesday.

Several sheriff's deputies descended on the residence at about 7 p.m. after

the department received a report of shots being fired.

The homeowner, 54-year-old Glen Richardson, said he was in his house Monday

evening when he heard the dogs barking in his backyard. Because he had been

the victim of several prior thefts, he armed himself with a handgun and then

went to the yard to investigate.

Outside, Richardson saw a man at the window of his son's house, which is

also on the property. The screen had been removed, but the window had not

been opened.

"I laid my gun on the corner of the house," Richardson said, showing the

stance. "He turned and reached behind him and pulled a silver pistol from

his waistband at the small of his back."

The man reportedly started to raise the gun in Richardson's direction.

"I'm a hunter. I know what a gun looks like," Richardson said. "I shot for

his leg. If I hit him, I don't know."

Richardson fired just one shot, and the man reportedly ran, jumped the fence

and continued running. Deputies and a police dog searched the area but were

unable to find the suspect.

When they inspected the residence, deputies found evidence of the attempted

break-in, the Sheriff's Department reported in a news release.

Deputies could not determine whether the man was hit by Richardson's bullet,

but they found no blood nor any other indicators, according to the

department.

Asked if he thought the bullet struck the man, Richardson remained

thoughtful.

"I hope not," he said. "But I wasn't aiming for his gut. I wasn't out to

kill the man.

"You've got to live with it," he said of taking a human life. "It's not like

shooting an animal."

The rural neighborhood, south of Taft Highway and west of Ashe Road, has

changed much in recent years as new homes and subdivisions have replaced the

prime farmland that once dominated the area.

Neighbor George Michel has lived in the area for 38 years, long before the

ranchettes and custom homes sprouted on the land where cotton and alfalfa

once grew.

Burglaries and theft were rare in those days, he said. But as the rim of the

city grew ever closer, more property crimes followed.

"I don't blame him," Michel said of his neighbor. "If more of that went on,

people would hesitate to break into homes."

"It's just a way of life today," the 72-year-old added. "You just have to

protect yourself. You have to be alert."

If Richardson's bullet had hit the intruder, and the gun turned out to be a

cell phone or something else, Michel said, could Richardson be facing

charges?

"I think he would," he said. "I've often thought I should have lived in the

1800s."

Monday's incident was the second in just over a month in which an area

resident used a gun to repel an intruder.

On Nov. 5, Bakersfield resident Steve Stewart shot and killed an intruder in

his northwest Bakersfield home, sparking an investigation that eventually

led to five arrests in what sheriff's officials believe was a bizarre

murder-for-hire scheme.

Richardson's situation appears to be much simpler.

"I moved out here to enjoy myself," he said. "I'm not going to let this

interfere with that."