MEDFORD, Ore. – Burglars beware -- you don't mess with Cathy Brown.
“I would never mess with a mom and her kids,” she said. “I mean, just don't do it.”
Medford Police say 23-year-old Christopher King learned that the hard way.
When Brown got home on the 600 block of Berkeley Way late Saturday night, she was surprised to find her bedroom door locked.
“I was mad, I was tired,” she said. “I did not want to deal with this right now.”
After breaking into her own room, she says she found King trying to steal her TV. But Brown made sure he didn't get far.
“I’m like, that guy is going down,” she said. “And the cops? Thankfully someone was here to call them because I would still be fighting him right now - until the cops came. Honest to God.”
Brown's 23-year-old daughter called 911. When officers arrived minutes later, she had it handled.
“She obviously felt that she could take him,” Medford Police Lt. Mike Budreau said. “And she did.”
Brown said when she got a hold of King, she put him in a headlock and punched him. She even admitted to biting the suspect, saying his shirt was ripped off.
Budreau says the two were involved in a fight, and when police got to Brown’s house she had King detained.
King is no stranger to fights himself, police say. Budreau says he has been arrested for assault.
Although Brown’s story ended well, Budreau wouldn't advise everyone to fight back the way she did.
“You don't know who that person is, you don't know what there capable of,” Budreau said. “You don't know if they're armed. You don't want to see somebody injured over trying to defend some property.”
Brown explains she has never been a violent person and she was only doing what felt right.
Her boyfriend, Chon Brown, says he was not surprised by what happened.
“I know she had it in her,” he said. “The guy picked the wrong window to climb in.”
King is behind bars on charges including burglary, theft and harassment.
Budreau says the best way to handle a burglary suspect is to be a good witness and call 911.
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