Naked Homeowner Holds Burglar at Gunpoint Until Police Arrive

Image source: KSL-TV

A Utah homeowner chased a burglar from his house and held him at gunpoint until police arrived -- all without wearing a shred of clothing.

It was shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday morning when Eric Martin awoke to someone in his St. George home where he, his girlfriend and an 8-year-old son were sleeping.

Martin told Utah's KSL-TV he grabbed his handgun and leaped out of bed -- completely naked.

"I'm in bed sleeping, I get up, I retrieve my sidearm, I chase him out the front door. I've got him pinned on the ground. It's 4:55 in the morning and I don't have a stitch of clothing on," Martin told the station. "I'm basically telling him at this point, 'Stay on the ground, don't move, because if you do move, I will shoot you.'"

Police said the suspect is 30-year-old Clinton Keller, and that he'd been through the kitchen and other parts of the home, KUTV-TV reported. Police said Keller tripped outside with a duffel bag full of items when Martin caught up with him.

"I said, ‘Do you know what I have pointed at you?' He said, ‘No,' and I said, ‘Do you want to know?' and he of course doesn't respond to that one, so I tell him, ‘Let me explain, I've got a .9mm pointed at you with high-velocity hollow points in the chamber,' and I explained to him what that will do to him if he moves," Martin told KSL. "He tried to get up once, and I explained again that this was the last time I was going to have this conversation with him, and he stayed on the ground at that point."

Martin's girlfriend, still inside the house, called 911 while Martin continued to hold the suspect at gunpoint. Martin said he didn't physically approach the suspect while he was sprawled outside: instead, he was aiming from behind a low wall in the front yard -- protection, he said, in case the burglar had a gun of his own, and because Martin was still nude.

"Imagine five police cars and seven officers rolling up to a scene with a naked man holding a weapon pointing at someone, and holding him down on the ground," Martin said. "The police got a kick out of that."

Police praised Martin's handling of the situation.

"We are incredibly grateful for this homeowner and what he did," St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain told KSL. "It was brave, and it was a great conclusion to what could potentially have been a very bad situation."

Keller was booked on suspicion of residential burglary and theft.