Home Invaders No Match For BB Gun-Toting Dad
Intruders Wield AK-47, Grab Girl By Her Hair

POSTED: 8:57 pm MST December 3, 2007
UPDATED: 8:59 am MST December 4, 2007

MESA, Ariz. -- A Mesa father armed with a BB gun confronted two home invaders, one of them brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle, after they grabbed his daughter by the hair at gunpoint, police said.

"I woke up and first I thought it was my mom screaming," said 15-year-old Gricel Ruelas. "Then I heard people shout, 'Open the door, open the door.'"

The intruders had kicked through the front door and were headed straight for her parents' room when they heard the girl screaming.

"I was going to hide in the closet, but that's when they got me," Ruelas said.

The men broke into her room and one of them grabbed her by the hair, she said.

"They had a gun to my head, like a big old gun, and the guy's saying , 'Come here.'"

Police said the weapon was an AK-47 assault rifle.

The 15-year-old said she fought back.

"I wasn't going to let them take me," she said.

Her father, Leonardo Lucia, came to her rescue and threatened them with a BB gun, police said.

He and the girl's uncle detained one man, but the one who had the rifle dropped it and took off running, according to officers.

"I'm so happy they were here," Ruelas said. "If they weren't, I wouldn't be here."

The man who was arrested, Daniel Lopez, 37, was on parole at the time, police said.

Lopez was arrested around 4:30 a.m. Sunday and booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree burglary, aggravated assault and criminal damage.

Police said they hope he can lead them to his accomplice.

http://www.kpho.com/news/14766204/detail.html

[Edited on December 4, 2007 at 12:27 PM. Reason : link]

12/4/2007 12:26:49 PM

You know, it's terrible that someone would break in and steal a bunch of stuff while you're not at home; but if you break into an occupied house at night you really deserve a bullet to the cranium. It's just senseless.

[Edited on December 4, 2007 at 12:31 PM. Reason : s]

12/4/2007 12:29:36 PM

I'm hoping the BB Gun at least looked like a shotgun or a rifle or something.

It kind of reminds me of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

12/4/2007 2:45:35 PM