Homeowner Holds Burglary Suspect At Gunpoint

"For David Holbrook of Mandeville, arming himself and capturing a thief who recently attempted to burglarize his house not only protected his family and their belongings, but may have finally put away a teenager who has stockpiled criminal charges over the past two years.

The drama began to unfold Aug. 26 at about 5:15 a.m., when Alana Holbrook awoke to find a man outside the doorway of the master bedroom at their home on the 100 block of Cindy Lou Place in the Old Golden Shores neighborhood. After seeing her wake up, the man fled downstairs as she woke her husband, David Holbrook.

As his wife called the police, Holbrook armed himself with a loaded .45-caliber Ruger pistol and began searching for the intruder, later identified by police as Matthew Weaver, 19, who lives just three blocks away at 212 Fountain St.

Holbrook didn't find the suspect inside or outside the house, but discovered the burglar had stolen a laptop computer, a computer game system and money from the purses of his wife and two daughters, ages 12 and 16.

Returning outside, Holbrook spotted the suspect coming from the side yard, heading across the street.

Holbrook ran toward Weaver, gun aimed, and ordered him to the ground. Weaver complied, and Holbrook held him there for several minutes until police arrived.

After arresting him, officers recovered the stolen goods, which had been stashed in the bushes across the street. The suspect also had money stolen from other locations, according to the Mandeville Police Department.

Weaver was taken to the parish jail in Covington and booked with burglary of an inhabited dwelling.

From October 2005 to August 2007, Weaver accumulated 31 criminal charges involving nine separate incidents, court records show. The charges are mostly burglaries and theft, but also include a misdemeanor drug charge and a second-degree battery charge from January 2007.

Weaver is set to go to court Monday for the battery case, and the recent burglary arrest will not affect those proceedings, said Lt. Tommy Breazeale, spokesman for the Mandeville Police Department."


*Note: Arming yourself is another solution to trying to prevent home burglaries. It may also be necessary in order to save your life.