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63-Year-Old Woman Grabs Burglar By Collar, Captures Him

CENTER HARBOR, N. H. (CBS) – Living alone in a secluded house, Linda Carr might have seemed like an easy target. But, the burglar who pried open her door found out he picked the wrong house.

The 63-year-old woman showed no fear when she found a burglar in her house recently.

Carr of Center Harbor, New Hampshire came home July 2 and noticed that something was wrong.

WBZ-TV's Lauren Leamanczyk reports

"When I went to insert my key to go into the house, the door was already ajar," she told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Friday.

She was aware of other break-ins in the area, but figured the burglar was gone, so she went looking for her dog Lola.

She went inside and there was a young man coming out of her bedroom with a backpack full of her stuff.

That's when most of us would have run out of the house, but Linda took action.

Carr talks to WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens

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"I grabbed the knapsack off his back and he attempted to keep going and I said 'He's not getting away with this' and I went up and grabbed him by the cuff of the neck, dragged him back into the living room and made him sit in the chair until the police came," Carr said.

The guy tried to leave again, but Linda wasn't having it.

"I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, dragged him back in here, plunked him in that chair and made him stay there. I said, 'you stay there and don't you move'," she explained. "He raised his hand and said 'I'm not goin' nowhere, I'm not goin' nowhere.'"

When police arrived, they arrested the burglar, identified as 29-year-old Richard Roya. Officers found Linda's prescriptions and other personal items in his backpack.

Linda thinks he's probably broken into homes before. She hopes she stopped him from doing it again.

"Time somebody caught him doing what he's doing," she said.

Carr said she felt protected by her late husband, who she believes, gave her strength.


WBZ-TV's Lauren Leamancyzk contributed to this report.

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