An intruder got more than he bargained for when he allegedly broke into the home of a federal agent overnight.
The off-duty Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was sleeping when the intruder, armed with a hammer and a “stabbing object”, came into his bedroom on Palm Avenue in Otay Mesa West, police said. When the suspect demanded the keys to the agent’s truck, the agent told him they were in the kitchen.
“The agent directed the suspect to the kitchen for the keys. While the suspect went to the kitchen, the agent armed himself,” Lt. Kevin Rooney said.
He confronted the man and told him he was a peace officer, police said. When the suspect started to raise the hammer, the agent shot him.
The wounded intruder managed to get away.
Officers followed a trail of blood and found the suspect in the yard of a home in the 3800 block of Chanute Street.
"He ran right here, you can follow the blood splatter right through there,” David Trammell said as he pointed out the trail.
Trammell lives nearby and was sleeping when it all went down. He didn’t know anything had happened until he stepped outside and saw his truck.
“I wanted to go to the store, I came out and my car had a yellow line around it and I was kind of scared about that,” Trammell said.
He soon found out that his truck was part of the crime scene because blood was splattered over the license plate. Police made him stay in his house for about an hour while they investigated.
“They have to do their job, you know,” he said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
