Couple catches burglar with duct tape

05:28 PM PST on Monday, February 21, 2005

By ERIC WILKINSON / KING 5 News

GIG HARBOR, Wash. -- A Pierce County couple captured a violent burglar, proving once and for all there really are a million uses for duct tape.

When a Pierce County couple came home Friday to their pastoral paradise, they knew something was wrong when someone came jetting out of the inside of the house.

The owners, who asked us not to reveal their names, say someone had broken into the home and the fight was on.

"He was kicking my wife and pulling our hair. We both lost big gobs of that," said the owner we'll call "Jim."

The burglar had been loading stolen goods into the back of the couple's SUV. He had even gotten a hold of the family jewels, prompting the wife to take matters into her own hands.

"She was able to, uh, grab a softer piece of his anatomy and convince him to move a little bit," Jim says.

Jim tackled the suspect to the ground as neighbors arrived and tied him up with television cable and duct tape.

KING

"Jim" (not his real name), his wife and neighbors used duct tape to detain a burglar caught in the act.

"He was all tied up in a package when we got there … and everybody's standing around him. Had him totally secure when we got there," Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

Jim says the physician that treated his wife was saying he had a calendar that has 365 ways to use duct tape and wanted to be the one to add the 366th.

Police believe the suspect is responsible for several other similar robberies all around Pierce County and may even be part of an identity theft ring. They also say, once convicted he will be put away for a long time.

Police say the suspect had driven to the Gig Harbor home in a stolen Subaru that was loaded with drugs and hundreds of items believed stolen from other victims.