Video from a home security system is serving as a warning to would-be burglars not to mess with one New Mexico neighbourhood.
That’s after a man broke into an Albuquerque home on Sunday, triggering the security system to notify homeowner Micah Benson on his phone.
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Benson watched the man wander through his home as he put on a motorcycle jacket, turned on the television and even grabbed a beer from the fridge.
That’s when Benson called his neighbour Sandra Vestel for help.
Vestel, who has a background in the military and surveillance, jumped into action.
“I went into our garage, my husband and I, and we got two pistols,” she told KRQE.
Vestel and her husband then met Benson in the street and used their cars to block off the entrance to the cul de sac they live on, in case the man attempted to make a getaway in a vehicle.
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Vestel said she handed Benson a gun and that’s when a group of six armed neighbours flooded into the home and confronted the suspect.
“Micah and I went into the home with two of the loaded weapons. Micah announced himself to the perpetrator saying, ‘I have a loaded weapon, get down on your hands and knees,’” she said.
According to a police report filed, the intruder yelled to the group “don’t shoot.”
“I started to strip search him to make sure he didn’t have any weapons or needles, even the beer bottle make sure that was kicked away,” Vestel told KOB4.
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Surrender clearly wasn’t enough for this neighbourhood watch, who duct taped the suspect and placed him on the driveway while they waited for police to arrive.
“The police had told us that the home prior that he had broken into, he was wearing the same clothes he had stolen from that home when he broke into Micah’s house,” Vestel said.
Mark Thompson, 32, was transferred to a local hospital and was later charged with residential burglary.
According to local reports, Thompson has been charged with disorderly conduct, animal cruelty and burglary in recent months.
Thompson remains in police custody.
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