One Tough Grandma Pulls Gun on Home Invader

Aug. 21, 2008 — -- When 85-year-old Leda Smith caught a would-be burglar in her home, the great-grandmother got tough. She pulled out her .22-caliber pistol and held the suspect at gunpoint until police arrived.

Smith said when she arrived home Sunday from an outing with a friend, she realized someone was in her home.

"I knew someone was in there because the door was open in the living from the sun porch, and I never leave that door open," she said on "Good Morning America" today. "I just saw a glimpse of his back sideways in the corner."

So Smith, who has four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, walked past the burglar, who was cowering in the corner with his faced covered, and retrieved her hidden handgun from beneath a chair cushion in her bedroom, much to the 17-year-old intruder's surprise.

"His eyes were kind of big. And he said, 'I didn't do it. I didn't do it,'" said Smith, who is widow and lives alone in Springhill Township, Pa. "He was [scared] -- not me."

Smith said she recognized the man who she said stopped by to ask if her house was for sale before she left her home earlier in the day.

After she caught him and pointed her pistol, Smith made the burglar call 911 as she kept her firearm pointed at him.

"I motioned with the gun, he come out the hall. I was right behind with the gun on him. We got to the end of the couch, and I have a telephone on the stand. I said, call the cops," she said.

On the recording of the 911 call, a quivery voice can be heard trying to assure the dispatcher he was not a burglar.

"Yes, um, there's a ma'am here and she thinks I broke into the house, which I didn't," the alleged intruder said to the operator.

Later, Smith also spoke with the dispatcher.

"I confirm that I caught this boy in my house," she said. "He's right here, I've got a gun on him."

"Can you come out right away?" Smith continued on the call. "I left here and this boy was going out my driveway and I came back and he is in my house."

For 15 to 20 minutes Smith held the intruder at gunpoint as he lay on the ground in front of her couch.

"My arm was getting tired because I was taking therapy on my shoulder for three weeks," Smith said.

When police arrived, Smith put down her gun and raised her hands and let authorities take over. The alleged intruder was taken away without incident and now faces attempted burglary charges.

"I was glad I didn't have to shoot him. God, I was mad enough to do it," said Smith, who said she was most peeved that a beveled glass window in the house was broken during the process.