Gun toting grandmother stops two burglary suspects

Friday, April 21st 2006, 10:33 am

By: News On 6

A gun-toting grandma in Mayes County is the reason two suspected burglars are behind bars. When she interrupted the crime at her son's house, she didn't turn and run, but picked up a rifle.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright has the story from Mayes County.

"I saw the garage door come up." Linda Wallis, with her 93 year old mother in the car, stopped to drop off some papers at her son's home, when she came face to face with a burglar. "I started making a bunch of racket, yelling at them to get out of the house, that I was calling the sheriff's office."

The thieves had selected the items they wanted and stacked them in the garage. One of the things they had stacked up to steal was a rifle.

She picked up it up, cocked it and went toward the house with, telling them they'd better leave. "This is very ironic, but, as I was thinking about my plan, I thought, I wonder what Lori Fullbright would advise."

Linda said she eased into the house, to get the phone so she could call 911, had the burglars known what she did about the gun, they might not have run. "I was just wanting to scare them. I knew it wasn't loaded. I wouldn't have picked it up, had it been loaded."

Authorities later arrested 20 year old Randy Poole and 19 year old Johnny Reed for burglary.

Of course, the sheriff says never approach a burglar, instead, back away. Mayes County Sheriff Frank Cantey: "It turned out amusing, but it could've been a dangerous situation for her. I'm glad it turned out the way it did."

Linda agrees, but says anger just took over. "He was intruding in my family's domain and this was their dream house and to have them come in and mess it up, it irritated me and I wanted 'em out."

The burglars had been in the house for sometime because they'd unplugged the TV and DVD player and were ready to take them and had even sat in the recliner for a time.

Sheriffâ€™s deputies say if Linda hadn't seen them, the thieves probably would never have been caught.