http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/ ... xml&coll=1
Bullets don't deter suspect
Saturday, March 01, 2008
By NIKI DOYLE
Times Staff Writer niki.doyle@htimes.com
Shots to buttocks fail to stop two more break-ins
A six-foot fence, three dogs, 385 pounds worth of teenage boys and three gunshot wounds to the buttocks didn't stop one alleged burglar from bursting into two other homes before police detained him Thursday night.
Huntsville police were still trying to verify the suspect's identity Friday but believe he is 36-year-old Marvin Horton, police spokesman Wendell Johnson said.
Horton allegedly jumped a 6-foot chain-link fence at 2702 Ninth Ave. and dodged Brenda Glover's pit bull puppy, Rottweiler and German shepherd before forcing open her front door at about 11:15 p.m.
Glover said she went to bed early, but her two sons, 17-year-old David and 18-year-old Jerry, were up playing video games and heard the dogs bark seconds before the burglar crashed into their home.
Glover woke up and heard the man fighting with her sons, who managed to wrestle the man into a headlock. She grabbed an umbrella before entering the scuffle.
"I told him to leave, and he said, 'No I'm coming in the house,'" she said. "He still kept coming, and I told him, 'I'm going to go get my gun if you don't leave.'"
The three tried to push the man back out the front door, but he wouldn't budge, Glover said.
When the burglar didn't heed her warning, Glover retrieved her .38-caliber pistol and gave him a final chance to leave before firing a shot into his backside.
The first shot didn't register with the man, so Glover fired two more shots before he finally turned and ran back out the door. Glover's husband called police.
"What really freaked me out is when I shot him (the first time), he wouldn't leave," Glover said.
The burglar took off across the street, jumped a 4-foot fence and kicked in the door of 2703 Ninth Ave. The homeowners pushed him back out the door fairly quickly, said Glover, who watched the man flee her house.
He then ran down the street and jumped through the window of 2712 Ninth Ave., where the homeowner, 50-year-old Otis Ethridge, held the man until police arrived.
Horton struggled with officers while they handcuffed him, Johnson said.
He faces multiple charges when he's released from Huntsville Hospital, where he was taken to be treated for the gunshot wounds. Police said his injuries weren't serious.
Johnson said it's unlikely any charges will be filed against any of the homeowners who struggled with Horton, including Glover.
"Usually, if there's any question regarding self defense, our investigators present it to the district attorney's office and consult with them," he said. "I don't think that will happen, though."
Nothing was taken from the homes, all of which had fences.
Police said they weren't sure what caused Horton to allegedly break into the homes. Incident reports show that officers believe he was under the influence of drugs.
None of the Ninth Avenue residents were seriously injured, although Glover and her sons have some minor scratches, bruises and knots.
The incident wrapped up a difficult day for Glover, whose grandmother died Wednesday. But Glover said it's just another day on Ninth Avenue, where she often has had to ask homeless people to move out of her driveway when she comes home.
Glover said she bought the gun for protection, although she's never used it. Her car stereo has been stolen, and a thief snatched her husband's boots from the front porch, but she's never come face-to-face with someone determined to get in.
"I got the gun for protection when my kids were little," she said. "I always thought I would have to use it out and about, not in my own house. I never expected that."
