Fed Up Homeowner Fights Burglar; 'I Went At Him Full Force'
CARVER (CBS) - Eight months ago, two men broke into Paul Burke's Carver home while he was working in the basement. He went upstairs and they took off.
Tuesday afternoon, when he came home from the doctor's office to find another man had broken in, Burke had had enough.
"I decided that this one I would not let get away," Burke explained. "My adrenaline kicked in like it never had before and I went at him full force like I've never done before."
The men started swearing, then Burke's fists flew.
"We were face to face, actually faces touching each other, sweat on each other. That's how close we were when we were fighting," he said. "I have Fibromyalgia; I'm not a strong person. But the adrenaline kicked in. And I hit him so hard."
It was hard enough that Burke shattered his own hand and broke his pinky finger.
But the robber was relentless. He slashed Burke's arm, and wrestled him into the hallway, eventually smashing Burke's head into the wall.
The crash left Burke dizzy for a moment, which was enough time for the burglar to run out the front door.
Burke crawled to the kitchen and called 911. Carver police were there, he says, within 45 seconds.
The suspect took off into the nearby woods, getting away only with prescription medications.
It was a daytime break-in nearly identical to one a few miles away the day before. In both cases, the suspect is described as a dark-skinned or black man in his early 20s, roughly 5' 6" with a slim yet muscular build.
"I wanted to catch him," Burke said. "The amount of break-ins that have been happening, I did not want him to go. And I thought I had him."
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