Gun-toting farmer pulls out his weapon, detains pair of alleged burglars inside his shop until cops arrive

A gun-toting farmer in Washington state pulled out his weapon and detained a pair of alleged burglars on his property recently until police arrived.

What are the details?

Police said the property owner found the two men inside one of his farm shops around 7 p.m. Sept. 9, KPQ-AM reported, adding that the property is located in the 16000 block of Road 2 Northwest in the Quincy area. Quincy is in the central part of Washington state, just over 150 miles southeast of Seattle.

The station, citing Grant County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kyle Foreman, reported that investigators found plenty of evidence at the scene: "Deputies found two shops on the property had been burglarized, and a box of stolen property was staged outside, along with shoe prints matching the suspect's shoes inside the shops."

Foreman added to KPQ that the property owner was well within his rights to hold the pair at gunpoint until police arrived, an action he said occasionally occurs in the county: "We have many responsible gun owners here in Grant County, and if they are outside protecting their property, they can certainly hold someone at gunpoint and then call 911 to have us come and investigate and find out what those people are doing there."

Deputies arrested 45-year-old Glenn Richard of Quincy and 28-year-old Jesus Rangel of Mattawa for investigation of second-degree burglary, the station said, adding that they were taken to the Grant County Jail.

How are folks reacting?

Commenters responding to a Fox News story on the incident published by Yahoo News seem squarely in the farmer's corner:

• "I'm afraid this and home invasion/break-ins are going to be commonplace from now on. So many stores and businesses have closed their doors because we have lenient judges and laws that refuse to lock up repeat criminals. So, we are going to need our 2nd Amendment rights more than ever. Kudos to this property owner for catching and holding [them] until law enforcement got there!!" one commenter wrote.
• "An armed citizen uses his firearm to apprehend criminals stealing his property," another commenter said. "And they say being armed doesn't work to stop crime — HAA HAA — it certainly does work."
• "Protect yourselves," another commenter urged. "Mostly, protect yourselves from those who say, 'we are protecting you, so you don't need to.'"
• "Well done, farmer!" another commenter exclaimed. "Criminals need to realize that being possibly shot, wounded, or killed by their intended victims is an occupational hazard."

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