POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A Pompano Beach resident said a thief went to his home looking for trouble, but the tables were quickly turned on the intruder.
Homeowner John Showalter realized he was burglarized on Friday morning when he discovered many of his tools were missing from his shed near his house, off East Atlantic Avenue in Pompano Beach. He’s a welder and works on fences, so he keeps a lot of his expensive tools in there.
Showalter called the police, but after they left, he decided to go to the back of the shed to see what was left behind to take them inside his house. That’s when, the homeowner said, he found the intruder hiding in the corner.
“They made a report, they left, and I went back into the shed to get out the expensive stuff that he left,” Showalter said. “I hit the light, and he was standing over here just like this, right beside me. I grabbed him, put him face down in the ground, and then I told him to sit right there and don’t move until the police got there.”
The Broward Sheriff’s Office arrested 34-year-old Philmon Bell. Officials found Showalter’s bicycle stashed nearby, apparently to be used as a getaway vehicle.
“I took him to the ground and held him with a baseball bat until the police got here again,” Showalter said, “and they got him.”
Showalter said when he found the subject, he looked like he was going to jump out at him, so he said he hit him in the leg with a bat.
When police arrived on scene, they arrested Bell and also transported him to the hospital.
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