Photo by Dan Whisenhunt

This story has been updated.

Decatur Police say a vehicle break-in quickly escalated when the would-be victim confronted the suspects.

The incident occurred in the early evening of Sept. 3 at 6:07 p.m. in the 700 block of East Lake Drive.

“The victim reported he was taking out his trash when he observed two males inside of his vehicle,” Lt. Jennifer Ross said. “The suspect in the driver’s side of the vehicle suspect No. 1 fled and ran west towards East Lake Drive. The victim grabbed the second suspect suspect No. 2 from the passenger side and pulled him out of his vehicle and a physical fight ensued.”

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The second suspect tried to pull a handgun from the waistband of his pants but it fell to the ground. The victim picked it up and pointed at the suspect, ordering him to stop.

“The suspect got up and climbed onto the hood of the victim’s vehicle, jumped over a fence and fled east towards McKoy Street,” Ross said. “A neighbor that witnessed the altercation ran over to assist and attempted to grab suspect No. 2 as he was trying to get over the fence but was unable to maintain his hold. An additional neighbor witnessed suspect No. fleeing and saw the altercation and called 911. The victim was not injured. The neighbor that attempted to grab suspect No. 2 received a large bruise on his bicep. The victim turned the recovered gun over to police.”

Ross provided the following descriptions of the suspects:

Suspect #1: Black male, thin build, dark complexion with shoulder length dreadlock hairstyle.

Suspect #2: Black male, mid-teens to early 20’s, approximately 5’10 and 150 lbs, slender build, dark complexion, short dreadlock/twist hairstyle, wearing a white tank top, gray jeans and red shoes.

Later, at 10:11 p.m., Police went back to the victim’s residents after receiving a report of gunshots. The victim said around 10 p.m. he heard five gunshots outside of his home and his car alarm started sounding.

“He exited his home and observed his front door damaged from a gunshot and located a bullet fragment on the ground,” Ross said. “Officers observed bullet holes in several locations including the front door, storm drain, wooden post and a sign. The victim was not injured. A neighbor reported observing two young black males with dreadlock hairstyles in a gray Chrysler Town and Country van speeding near the victim’s residence just before hearing gunshots. The neighbor then witnessed the van drive erratically away from the victim’s residence towards Fayetteville Road.”

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