Burglary suspect caught in act, held at gunpoint by victim's son, police say

BESSEMER, Ala. — A man who broke into a stranger's home in Bessemer, Alabama, got a surprise Sunday afternoon when the homeowner's son confronted him at gunpoint, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

Deputies responded to a reported burglary in progress at a home on Knight Drive just after 3:30 p.m. Sunday. They found a man, identified as Nicholas Lee Harrison, lying on the ground as another man held him at gunpoint, authorities said.

The armed man, who was not identified, told deputies that he was at his home next door when he saw Harrison pull into his mother's driveway. He didn't recognize the car or the driver and knew his mother wasn't home.

When he went outside to investigate, he saw Harrison kick open the front door of his mother's home, deputies said. He went back into his house and grabbed his handgun.

He said he found Harrison walking down a hallway inside his mother's home.

“He ordered the offender out of the residence and told him to (lie) on the ground,” the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said. “This is where deputies found him when they arrived.”

Harrison told authorities that the door opened when he knocked to ask for directions.

“He said he only stuck his head inside to see if anyone was home,” deputies said.

Investigators said they found needles and syringes used for injected heroin on Harrison.

Authorities booked him into Jefferson County Jail Sunday afternoon on charges of burglary, attempted burglary, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft and criminal mischief, according to jail records.

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