ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Usually it’s a bad guy who slashes car tires, but not so in this case as a crime victim was thinking fast. It was an act of “vandalism” that actually put a suspected burglar in jail.
“There was a strange vehicle parked in the driveway… it was still running,” said Marti Wilson.
Just after 11 on Tuesday morning, Wilson came home from school and was the only one home.
“I noticed that someone had tampered with the side door,” Wilson said, “The glass was broken out, and part of the door was missing.”
About three weeks ago a medication bottle was stolen from her with her contact information on it.
“I knew something was going to happen, I just didn’t know when,” Wilson added.
Wilson said there’s been a lot of activity around her home recently, and she had suspicions someone was trying to get in.
“I think they’ve been trying to follow our patterns and see when we`re here and when we`re gone,” said Wilson.
She was right. This week she said she caught 30-year-old Casey Hueser in the act.
“I heard the garage door open and he came down the side stairs, so I met him down at the garage… and he started back up into the house,” Wilson said.
Wilson said she took the key out of the ignition before he came back down, and used her pocket knife to punch holes in his tires.
“I started to come up the side stairs and I was yelling… I was really angry,” Wilson said.
The probable cause statement says Hueser forced his way into Wilson`s home and tried to steal many things, including prescription medication.
“He had a container full of medication and prescription meds, and they went all over the stairwell and into the garage and he took off up the stairs,” said Wilson.
Wilson said Hueser was trying to distract her so he could get away.
“Then he found out he couldn’t get away because his key was in my pocket,” Wilson said.
Wilson said they struggled in the garage, she eventually gave in and gave him his key to leave. He also took her pocket knife, then she called police.
“His front left tire had a big hole in it, and apparently, with my description of the vehicle, and the fact that he wasn’t moving really fast, and then they found a bunch of the rubber out in the road… so he kind of left a trail,” said Wilson.
Hueser was taken into custody and charged with first-degree burglary, with a bond set for $5,000.
“It’s my family and you don`t hurt my family, it`s my mom`s house – you don`t take advantage of my mom and get away with it,” Wilson said.
Wilson says Hueser should go to prison for a long time for what he did. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 23rd.