Crook Posing as Hungry Stranger at Woman's Door Gets Way More Than He Bargained For

A man in Grand Rapids, Mich., opened his girlfriend's apartment door late Tuesday night to find a man, claiming he was hungry and asking for assistance. Within seconds, instead of helping the man, Jose Jimenez-Fuentes found himself tackling an armed robber to the floor while his 4-year-old slept upstairs.

“He had his back turned towards the door. So, when I looked through the peephole I didn’t see him,” Jimenez-Fuentez told WXMI-TV. “I opened the door a little bit to see who it was and that’s when he tried to force his way inside the house with a gun.”

Jose Jimenez-Fuentes' instinct kicked in Tuesday when he was force to defend his family against an armed intruder. (Image source: WXMI-TV)

The Grand Rapids Press reported that's when Jimenez-Fuentes sprang into action, the instinct to protect his family kicking in. During the struggle for the weapon, a shot was fired.

"My main concern was my family's safety," he told WXMI.

"I have to grab the gun, that's all I could think of. Either he kills me with the gun, or I take it away from him," the 22-year-old told the Grand Rapids Press.

But after Jimenez-Fuentes got the gun, he said the man was "more scared than I was in that moment."

Stephanie Salazar, Jimenez-Fuentes's girlfriend, came upon the struggle in progress and ran to rush their then sleeping daughter to safety at a neighbor's apartment, according to the newspaper.

Jimenez-Fuentes allowed the suspect to escape. Police took a man into custody later but have not charged anyone in the ongoing investigation.

Watch WXMI's report about the incident:

No on was injured in the incident, but The Grand Rapids Press reported the couple saying they still have yet to find where the bullet from went after the gun went off, if any was actually discharged.

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