EPIC: Former LEO Goes From Sleeping to In Charge in Seconds

AUSTIN, TX — A man was rather rudely awoken when a random, odd man was found to be standing in his and his wife’s bedroom, armed with a stick and one of his steak knives.

I’m not sure what the intruder thought he could gain from the combination, but it wasn’t enough to prevent him from being apprehended by the man he was assailing, who just happened to be a former law enforcement officer.

As CBS Austin reports:

Richard Brent Prieto, 32, is charged for burglary of habitation with intent to commit assault. According to the arrest affidavit, on March 4, 2018 at around 2:45 a.m., Robert Rodriguez and his wife were asleep when they woke up to an unknown man holding a stick and a steak knife at the foot of their bed…

“I sat up and said, ‘what the hell is going on,’ and he goes, ‘hey man . . . my wife is under the house and Chuck Norris is waiting for me and I’m having a hard time’,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, a former sheriff’s deputy, said that’s when his law enforcement training kicked in. “I’m just slowly reaching for my weapon and he’s talking and all of the sudden I grabbed my gun and trained it on him. I said ‘drop the damn weapon,’” Rodriguez said.

The homeowner said with his gun in one hand, he used the other to dial 9-1-1 and warned Prieto if he made one wrong move he would shoot…

Although he said he came close to pulling the trigger, Rodriguez said he was able to stay calm until Austin Police arrived. “In my case, I felt with my training I was more in control than he was and I had my weapon on him the whole time from the moment I pulled my gun to the moment the police came and took over,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said Prieto never made any type of lunging motion towards them, but showed signs of being mentally disturbed.

A huge tip of the hat is in order for this man, who might have a bit of a problem sleeping too hard, but more than made up for it with his quick action and solid judgment.

He had the right to draw blood. He used his best judgment to determine that he didn’t need to in order to keep his family safe. He neutralized the threat without anyone losing their life, and because of that, a deeply disturbed man may have a chance to get the help he needs.

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