Poll:
What would you do if you saw someone break into a neighbor's house?
WELCHES, Ore. – A homeowner and his neighbor confronted two burglars, one armed with a knife and the other with a bat, Saturday morning at his house in Welches, police said.
Beau Collins, 34, and his neighbor Stewart Haney, 53, confronted the men at Collins’ house on Mountain Air Drive at 11:30 a.m., said Deputy Marcus Mendoza with Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Haney's wife Kelly had spotted two young men outside Collins' home and thought it was suspicious. She told her husband and he went to investigate.
He met Collins at the door but what happened next was a shock.
The two suspects, who didn't know any one was home, came out with their weapons.
"I grabbed the bat. He wiggled and fled. The other individual was hiding by the couch with a knife," Haney told KGW. "He came at me with the knife. I disarmed him then we both took him down."
Haney said he was glad he could help his neighbor and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
"I think I was too easy on him. (He) should have been roughed up a little more," Haney said.
When officers arrived they detained the first suspect and started looking for the second. A Sergeant who was responding to the burglary spotted the second man a few blocks away with a large knife. He was taken into custody without incident, Mendoza said.
Deputies discovered that the suspects had planned the burglary and targeted the residence through 26-year-old Melinda Hanke (pictured center) who was staying at the house and knew the victims.
Hanke thought the residents were not home because she gave one a ride to “Hempstock 2012,” at Kelly Point Park in Portland.
Hanke then called Keith Tupper, 18, of Gresham (pictured left) and John Dixon Jr., 19, of Portland (pictured right) to loot the house.
All three were taken to Clackamas County Jail and booked for burglary, robbery and other charges.
Kelly Haney said that their neighborhood is a place where people watch out for each other.
"You have to take care of your neighbors in your neighborhood," she said. "If we don't do it, who's going to do it."
