Neighbor Sees Something Odd In Yard Next Door, So He Did Something About It — Now He’s Called A Hero

A good neighbor in the desert town of Hesperia, California, did what good neighbors should do Thursday afternoon. When he saw something strange going on in the yard next door, rather than turn his back, go back inside his house, and avoid any trouble — he did something about it.

The 79-year-old man, who gave his name to local news outlets only as Richard, noticed a young man he didn’t recognize peering at the house next door, at about 12:25 in the afternoon. Something about the man, who turned out to be 25-year-old Steven Barnett, didn’t seem right, so Richard called 911 — then walked over there to see what was up.

Richard knew that his neighbors were not at home, and the man most likely had no business being in their yard. Sure enough, other witnesses later said that the man appeared to be trying to enter the unoccupied home.

“I said, ‘What are you doing?'” Richard told the Los Angeles TV station KCAL 9. “He said, ‘Well, my stuff is here.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not here.’ He said, ‘Well, Steve lives here.’ I said, ‘No, he doesn’t. You just better be on your way.'”

However, Richard (pictured above) told KCAL 9 that Barnett would not be on his way. Instead, he gave the concerned neighbor some serious backtalk — and then some.

The apparent intruder challenged Richard, telling him, “You wouldn’t shoot me.”

“Test me,” Richard replied.

So Barnett did test him. In fact, according to Richard’s account, the stranger hauled off and punched the near-octogenarian in the nose. Richard’s nose has a bruise to show for it.

“Rather than swing at him, I just protected myself like this and he beat on my back for nine or 10 times. And then I took my gun out and hit him on the foot with it, and then he backed off,” Richard told KCAL.

What Barnett didn’t know was that he was dealing with a former soldier who carried a firearm on his person at all times.

“I’m not looking for any glory or anything. I just live in the neighborhood and want to be left alone,” Richard says.

But fortunately for Barnett and perhaps wisely on Richard’s part, he did not just wildly open fire on the young man. Instead, he held him at gunpoint until the cops arrived.

Barnett was arrested and charged with attempted burglary as well as being under the influence of a controlled substance — though police did not say what that substance was. The brave neighbor says he also plans to press assault charges against Barnett as well.

Watch the full KCAL 9 story on the hero neighbor in the video above.

[Image: KCAL 9 Screen Grab]