Tahlequah Victim Angry Over Burglar's Plea Deal

A convicted Tahlequah burglar is in prison, but the victim says the punishment isn't tough enough. He feels the Cherokee County District Attorney's office let him down.

The district attorney's office made a deal with Brandon Grigsby: if he pleaded guilty, his charges would be reduced from first-degree to second-degree burglary. But the victim in this case says he feels that's just a slap on the wrist.

"My daughter's terrified of him. She's wanting to move out of state," said Don Alexander, crime victim.

It's been about four months since Brandon Grigsby busted into Don Alexander's Tahlequah home. Alexander says he tackled the intruder and put him in handcuffs,

"He started making threats and spitting on us. He said he was going to kill and torture our family," Alexander said.

Grigsby was arrested on several complaints But was only charged with first-degree burglary and threatening to perform an act of violence. Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dallis says the crime didn't meet state statute for any other charges to be filed.

"They stand up there to protect us. All of us. They're not doing their job," Alexander said.

8/5/2015 Related Story: Man Arrested In Tahlequah Home Invasion

Grigsby took a plea deal last week and was sentenced to serve two years in prison and five years probation. Alexander says the DA's office never contacted him about the case.

"We care about our victims, our witnesses, our police officers, the community as a whole," said Assistant DA Rachel Dallis.

"It's ultimately our responsibility, and I would say that we do a really good job of that usually - this is just one of those situations where there was a little bit of a communication breakdown."

Court records show the DA's office sent Alexander's daughter a subpoena to an address in Wagoner County, but it was returned. Alexander says his family did move, but not to that address.

Dallis says the DA's office was never notified of an address change and tried calling the family, but never heard back. So prosecutors made the decision they thought was best - a decision, Alexander is upset he wasn't part of.

"I think he deserved a lot more than the bare minimum," said crime victim Don Alexander.

Brandon Grigsby has already started serving his sentence with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.