Bluffton resident wrestles garment, toy-stealing burglar, chases him out window

A Bluffton resident, alerted by the home’s yelping dogs briefly wrestled with an intruder Sunday night before the would-be burglar broke free, jumped out a window and escaped into a patch of nearby wood, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The victim said he and his mother were asleep when the dogs awoke him in the Malphrus Road home around 9:30 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Office report.

“He thought he heard one of the dogs yelp as if someone had struck it,” the report said.

When the man got up to investigate and opened a bedroom door, he found the intruder standing in the hallway. The intruder then grabbed the door and held it shut until the resident was able to re-open it and confront the man.

What followed was what the report called a “short tussle”in which the resident threw the intruder to the floor. The intruder managed to get to his feet and run down the hallway into another bedroom, where he jumped out the window.

The resident followed him out the window and chased the intruder as he fled toward the woods, the report said. The resident told a deputy that though he could not see very well, he thought he saw some sort of garment in one of the intruder’s hand and a toy in the other.

As the resident chased him, he slipped on the grass and lost sight of the fleeing man.

A description of the intruder was redacted from the report and the resident could not immediately identify what was missing from the home.

A tracking team was called to the scene, but was unsuccessful in locating a suspect.

This story was originally published July 6, 2017 at 2:09 PM with the headline "Bluffton resident wrestles garment, toy-stealing burglar, chases him out window."