A 75-year-old grandmother with a loaded rifle kept a suspected car thief on his knees in her front yard until law enforcement showed up.
When Marcia Black saw a car thief approach her porch, she realized it was the same suspect who had been fleeing police for hours, so she reached for her rifle and called the police, according to WAAY 31 News.
The suspect, Cameron Powers, allegedly stole a vehicle, crashed it, and then evaded police until he showed up at Marcia Black’s door in Limestone County, west of Huntsville, Ala.
Allie Ruth Black, Black’s 15-year-old granddaughter, said she was having a conversation with her grandmother Monday evening at the dinner table when she noticed Powers out the window, not wearing a shirt or shoes.
“The boy is standing down there at the end of the driveway,” she said to her grandmother, who replied, “You’re joking.”
Marcia Black said, “I walked out and said, ‘Can I help you?’ and he said, ‘Yes, ma’am, I’d like to use your phone.’”
She then asked the man about the crash that ensued just down her street, but he claimed he didn’t have any knowledge of it. She then told him, ‘Well, I’m going to need you to lay down in the grass.’”
When he didn’t comply, she said, “He wouldn’t get down, so I shot in the air, and he realized I meant business, so he got down on his knees,” WAAY 31 News reported.
Allie Ruth Black remained inside with another family member and called 911 while her grandmother was busy with Powers.
“I wanted to keep him at a distance. I didn’t intend to kill him. I just wanted him to think that I would shoot him,” said Marcia Black.
When the Limestone County deputies showed up, Powers made a run for it.
Marcia Black said, “He feared the deputy more than he feared my rifle. He jumped up and ran zig-zag right across the field.”
He was quickly apprehended and arrested. He was taken to Limestone County Jail and charged with auto theft and attempting to elude.
“It’s just another day. If something happens, you take care of it and that’s it. I was just calm as could be. I knew what I was doing. I was in control,” Marcia Black said.
“It’s just amazing to me that I got to witness my grandmother in action,” Allie Ruth Black said. “Our jaws just dropped. We thought, ‘Wow, my grandmother is the coolest person on the planet. This is a story that I’m going to get to tell my grandkids one day.”
