Arlington Heights home invasion shooting
Video still from a Ring doorbell camera of an Arlington Heights, IL home showing two would-be home invaders. The fellow on the right expired from a gunshot wound. Police caught the second (alleged) intruder.
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America’s criminals must appreciate government recommendations for folks to wear masks in public now. It helps the bad guys conceal their identity and doesn’t raise suspicion during a pandemic.

But a pair of home invaders in Arlington Heights, Illinois learned the hard way that while the masks may help protect them from COVID-19, they don’t make the wearers bulletproof.

Yes, the duo made a profound error in the victim selection process on Saturday. Despite seeing the American flag flying out front — a strong indicator that the homeowner may own firearms — the pair proceeded with their daylight home invasion plan.

A Ring doorbell cam caught the lead-up to the attempted invasion.

Arlington Heights home invasion shooting
Screengrab by Boch from YouTube video.

The apparent ringleader walked up and tried walking right inside until he found a locked door.  He knocked and rang the doorbell, then pointed out the Ring camera to his accomplice.

Moments later, when the door opened, he walked in like he owned the place. That’s when all hell broke loose inside.

The unblinking Ring camera kept recording and caught the homeowner’s vicious counter-attack as one suspect lay wounded in an upstairs bedroom, bleeding out.

Arlington Heights home invasion shooting
Screengrab by Boch from YouTube video.
Screengrab by Boch from YouTube video.

Here’s the video (NSFW for male butt nudity).

After taking care of that intruder, the homeowner returned inside to rescue his family from the second home invader.

The Arlington Heights Patch has more details.

…A subsequent investigation revealed that Larry D. Brodacz and Bradley J. Finnan, 38, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, planned to force their way into the residence and rob the homeowners at gunpoint, police said. Once the pair gained entry, the male homeowner fought with Finnan and chased him out of the house, according to police.

After re-entering his house, the homeowner retrieved a handgun from a safe and confronted Brodacz, who was pointing his own firearm at the homeowner’s family, police said. Brodacz attacked the homeowner with a knife, police said, and after a brief struggle and the homeowner fired one shot into Brodacz’ abdomen and fled the house with his family to await the police.

In the end, the police called on the local SWAT team to secure the home fearing the wounded bad guy might still have ill intent. However, Mr. Masked Invader bled out before the police got to him.


From the Daily Herald story.

Arlington Heights police on Sunday identified a 58-year-old Buffalo Grove man as the person shot to death during an apparent home invasion Saturday afternoon on the village’s north side, and said his suspected accomplice is in their custody.

Police called to the home in the 2400 block of North Evergreen Avenue found Larry D. Brodacz dead of a gunshot wound on the second floor. His death has been ruled a homicide, police said Sunday.

Police arrested a Chattanooga, Tennessee man and Cook County prosecutors are having him held without bail.

From The Chicago Tribune.

A Tennessee man is facing murder charges in connection with a brazen daytime Arlington Heights home invasion that left the suspect’s accomplice shot dead by the homeowner, authorities said Tuesday.

Bradley J. Finnan, 38, of Chattanooga, Tenn., was charged Tuesday with felony murder and home invasion after allegedly being one of two armed men who tricked their way into a home Saturday afternoon in the 2400 block of North Evergreen Avenue, a house authorities said the pair had targeted.

Finnan was ordered held in Cook County Jail without bail following a bond hearing Tuesday at the courthouse in Rolling Meadows.

The homeowner later posted a heartfelt thank you to the community on Facebook following the incident (edited for readability).

Please bear with me through this post, I am still quite overwhelmed. It has been the most challenging last few days for our family.

Most are aware of the armed home invasion in Arlington Heights on Saturday, April 4th.

Many of you are aware, and for those that are not, this is about our family, OUR HOME.

This is an open case therefore I will limit any description of the horror, terror and fear my family had to endure that day and all that continues. There are no words to be found to appropriately define the ongoing aftermath of this event for our family.

We are doing our best and praying each following day will bring better than the last.

With all of this distress, our family has been blessed with the most incredible outpouring of concern for our family. The calls, the texts, the emails, family, friends, neighbors, Thomas Middle school, friends we have lost track with over the years and so many of the Arlington Heights community that without knowing us just wanted to help.

Unbelievable numbers opening their homes to us for a place to stay during this already unprecedented quarantine time. Offering to get us groceries, prepare meals for our family, get or buy us clothing. Offering to do anything and everything that would HELP.

This speaks volumes of the GOOD that is out there. This not only touches our souls, it places hope in our hearts. HOPE that we will heal from this event, HOPE that we will one day feel safe again, HOPE that the images and sounds that currently hold us hostage on replay in our minds will begin to fade.

We want each an every one of you that extended your hand to our family to know, we are forever filled with gratitude and heartfelt emotion. You have no idea how much it means to us and how very much your genuine care & concern for our family has been a monumental part of getting us through these days and our journey in healing moving forward. How can we ever say it with the depth it demands, THANK YOU.

April 4th changed our lives, and brought true appreciation in the fact we are alive. It is so incredibly important we acknowledge and thank all of the Arlington Heights law enforcement, Detectives, Special teams, SWAT, Paramedics, Fire department, Forensics and at the front of this case, the lead detective and her unwavering, above and beyond non-stop effort to bring justice to our family.

We had the opportunity to meet some of the most incredible people through a horrific circumstance. You are amazing. Please know you carry our everlasting respect and gratitude.

God bless each and everyone of you. We may have experienced the incredible evil in the world but because of all of you, you made sure we can still see there is Good.❤️🙏

If my fellow people of the gun ever needed a reason to practice home carry, this story should help you make the decision.

[buy_now link=https://amzn.to/3aWKnCV]

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227 COMMENTS

  1. Once again I can’t see any reason ever to carry a gun for whatever reason. These “thieves” could have been stopped with a stern talking too.
    In all seriousness though. Ever since I have gotten my CCL I have carried at home all day until I change into PJs. Now I need to get a safe for my bedside as I keep the gun in my basement safe.

    • ???
      I’m confused… you started off saying you saw no point in carrying a gun and finished with having one always at hand…
      Which is It?
      🤠

    • Forgive me if I misunderstood you A, but you’re saying you carry your gun all day long and then lock it up in a basement safe at night while you’re sleeping? Don’t you have a nightstand? Are you going to ask the bad guy for a time out while you retrieve your gun?

    • A Ruger lcp in an Azula holster works well for me when my PJs go on and I’m not in bed. I don’t lounge in my PJs much, but I have a kid and sometimes he decides my bedtime doesn’t need to be spent in bed next to my Sig.

    • Yeah….. you really need to rethink keeping your gun “IN A SAFE, IN THE BASEMENT” while sleeping…
      That’s just CRAZY TALK!!!!

      • “They still don’t have a “sarcasm font”. Sometimes it’s hard to pick that up in text format.”

        Sometimes it takes reading the entire entry to note the dissonance clue. It’s part of the fun of construction, and the fun of discovery of the actual intent.

  2. US flag flying is now a symbol of an armed home. Let me check outside my door and see if that’s accurate….

    Yep, that is the case for my house and every house on the street. I never made that connection before.

      • Huh, mine doesn’t. No flag, plenty well armed here. Looking around my neighborhood…yup, correlates almost 0%. I know one neighbor who flies an American flag outside their house. Don’t know if they own guns or not. The dozen plus of my neighbors I know who own arms, none fly an American flag outside their home.

        And I live in a pretty rural area.

    • Can’t tell if you’re being facetious or not but…..

      Since all Leftists and most Democrats believe America is a racist, homophobic, sexist country why do you think they would want to honor such a place by flying its flag?

      I’d wager money that flying a US flag skews heavily towards a conservative mindset and support of the 2ndA.

    • It isn’t 100%, but I’d say it’s a good indicator. My Gadsden and Betsy Ross probably remove all doubt from that question.

      • ” My Gadsden and Betsy Ross probably remove all doubt from that question.”

        If I were to actually fly a flag, it would be Bennington; most elegant and striking flag of them all.

    • Damn, all those cemeteries with star n stripes flying in the entry gotta be like armories underground.

      I say OpSec.

    • Knobby-You are not a junky thief so you view things normally. Old Glory symbolizes patriotism, and patriotism in America is celebrated and backed up with guns.
      The flag is the equivalent of a gun decal on your car. They will break your window in broad daylight and be gone in under 30 seconds. It doesn’t matter if they find anything as they don’t have to pay for the damage. The same goes for the home, if they don’t meet gun fire then they check it out.
      The 40,000 dollar truck in a driveway could make it worth going into the home, and having to kill the homeowner if encountered. They had no concern over the camera, as they know a stranger killing another stranger is how a murder goes unsolved.
      That is why it is unfortunate how many cowardly gun owners, prefer to give the criminals the edge by making it illegal,except in Texas, to use deadly force over property and on fleeing thugs.

      • Bad news for you, that’s illegal in Texas also. You can use deadly force against a carjacker and someone engaged in invasion of an occupied structure. Oh or if they are attempting to commit arson. At NIGHT, you can use deadly force against someone engaged in criminal mischief (which, BTW does NOT include simple trespass under Texas law). So in Texas, you might, maybe, possibly have cause to use deadly force if someone is stealing your property. At night. You absolutely do not during the day time.

        • My neighbor killed a trespasser in KY no problems at all. I thought Texas was better for gun owners than KY. The guy kept going through his field was told not to a couple times he didn’t get another chance. No charges ever filed.

        • Matthew, Unless it has changed recently and secretly, if someone robs you of something worth in excess of $500, in Texas, you may feel free to shoot the mofo in the back as he attempts to leave. Researched long ago since I figured anyone takes my wallet will also relieve me of my 18K Rolex, plan to shoot him several times in the back, then (as in this case) see to it he receives adequate time alone to bleed out prior to the cops arriving.

  3. Ok….

    Shooting ruled “homicide”.
    Homicide is accepted by most peopls as synonym for murder.
    Surviving invader is charged with “felony murder” (which most people haven’t heard of).
    Homicide and murder have been linked.
    Arlington Heights is in Cook County.
    Cook County is in Ill-noise.

    What anti-gun prosecutor worth the name is going to just let this go?

    • He doesn’t have a choice. Illinois has statutory immunity for lethal force used against a violent entry into your home.

    • Homicide is the term used for anyone who takes a life. Murder is a specific charge. Self defense killing is typically referred to as justifiable homicide.

      • “Homicide is the term used for anyone who takes a life. Murder is a specific charge. Self defense killing is typically referred to as justifiable homicide.”

        Correct, but a message entirely lost on most of the population (as noted in the original comment). How many detective units are called “Murder Squad”? The most pervasive description is “Homicide Squad” (or something close). The general public is comfortable with the idea that homicide means murder (suspected murder). It is only after a trial that some people may discover the concept of “justifiable homicide”, only after a person had been charged with murder.

        • What I got out of it was that only one charged with murder is the guy who broke in and got his ass whipped on the way out the door, not the homeowner who shot his buddy.

        • “What I got out of it was that only one charged with murder is the guy who broke in and got his ass whipped on the way out the door, not the homeowner who shot his buddy.”

          Correct. But you are viewing things thru the eyes of a knowledgeable gun owner. I’m just seeing the general population (and jury pool) for what it is. And, of course, the bias of anti-gun prosecutors.

        • They’re called homicide squads because they investigate homicides. They only way you determine if a homicide is murder is by investigating it.

          We can’t base everything in life on the lowest common denominator of who can understand it.

        • “We can’t base everything in life on the lowest common denominator of who can understand it.”

          Yet, that lowest common denominator seems quite adept at limiting our RTKBA. Perilous to ignore them.

        • The article also called them “burglars” but the video clearly showed “home invasion robbers”. I appreciate articles like this, especially when there is accompanying video. It shows normal people how biased the media can be and makes them ask questions like, “if the homeowner is being investigated for homicide, and the suspect is being charged with murder, then what’s the difference between homicide and murder?”

        • “It shows normal people how biased the media can be and makes them ask questions like, “if the homeowner is being investigated for homicide, and the suspect is being charged with murder, then what’s the difference between homicide and murder?” ”

          Given a vast number of people have only a seven minute attention span (to match television commercial breaks), putting homicide and murder in the same paragraph is more likely to just be considered an exchange of words for variety (to keep their interest).

        • Homicide is defined as the action of one person directly causing the death of another. A death that occurs during and is related to the commission of a felony is also considered homicide. A violent death may stem from some kind of deliberate or purposeful action, but intent to cause death need not be present or proven for the classification as homicide.

          Homicide and murder are not the same. All murders are homicides, not all homicides are murder. “Murder” is not an acceptable manner of death classification for death certification purposes. “Murder” is a term used under specific conditions in criminal law matters as as a general concept. An example might be that of unintentional firearms-related hunting death. While it may be classified as a homicide, it is up to legal authorities to determine when to prosecute such a case as “murder,” “manslaughter,” etc.

        • I agree that homicide and murder are not the same. Do you conclude that the vast population of readers understands that? It is not the accuracy of understanding that the knowledgeable hold, but the popular acceptance of the terms as interchangeable, both meaning the same thing.

    • Don’t get too worked up over the word “homicide”. Something has to go on the form; it wasn’t “natural causes”, or “accident”, and it doesn’t fit the accepted definition of “suicide” (even if it kind of worked out that way). It simply means that the death was caused by another person.

      • ” It simply means that the death was caused by another person.”

        True. Just speculating how “homicide” is perceived by the public, and the opportunity for the anti-gun crowd to get spun-up.

        Reality is that non-gun owners will assign murderous intent/characterization to gun owners. Anti-gunner education on the law is drawn from TV and movies. The expectation is the if the shooting was legal, “homicide” would not have been the determination.

        Our audience is not ourselves.

      • It’s not just the word “homicide” that’s the problem.

        Read this and tell me what you think happened:

        Police: Deadly shooting inside Arlington Heights home was homicide; Buffalo Grove man ID’ed as person killed.

        Was it even the same incident? Yes, it was…and it conveys the exact opposite of what really happened. That’s what Sam is on about.

        • That’s the way the media make a home defense case look like “a gunviolence murderdeathkill” for the headline surfing publuc eye. It screams “GUNS BAD!” without exactly lying.

      • The crooks chose to do crime. The crooks chose that residence. The crooks chose to make illegal entry.

        They chose poorly.

    • I’m pretty sure that the surviving home-invader is the one whose being charged with homicide.
      In most states if you commit a crime with someone and they are killed during the act, you are charged with their death. And since the activity leading to this death is illegal, it is murder.

      • “I’m pretty sure that the surviving home-invader is the one whose being charged with homicide.
        In most states if you commit a crime with someone and they are killed during the act, you are charged with their death. And since the activity leading to this death is illegal, it is murder.”

        All that is true….from the wrong side of the equation. Anti-gunners have no concept of justifiable shootings. Just ad the words “murder” and “homicide” to any news story and the takeaway is another crazed gun owner killed some unnecessarily. We are not the audience targeted in these reports.

        • “Anti-gunners have no concept of justifiable shootings.”

          Sure they do, if a policeman shoots someone, it’s justified, unless the person shot was a ‘person of color’. Then it requires a full violation of civil rights investigation…

        • “Sure they do, if a policeman shoots someone, it’s justified, unless the person shot was a ‘person of color’. Then it requires a full violation of civil rights investigation…”

          Well….there’s that.

      • “I’m guessing the charge is on the second suspect.”

        Correct, but I am guessing the anti-gun mafia might see yet another opportunity to “send a message.”

    • The living accomplice is being charged. In most states, you get charged with homicide if a death occurs during the commission of a felony. That’s why get away drivers are often charged, despite not pulling the trigger

      • “The living accomplice is being charged. In most states, you get charged with homicide if a death occurs during the commission of a felony. That’s why get away drivers are often charged, despite not pulling the trigger.”

        We all “see” what we want to see. I am looking at the incident as though a rabid anti-gunner. The DA will ultimately* decide if the incident was a “good shoot”, not the homeowner, not people of the blog.

        *A jury may or may not ratify the DA decision.

    • “Homicide is accepted by most peopls as synonym for murder”

      Why do you think I rant about education so much?

      • “Why do you think I rant about education so much?”

        I do understand, and applaud ! My comments are to point out that looking at events through only the lens of POTG is just as damaging as poor education. We fool ourselves, the vultures of the Left feast.

        • If fooling ourselves is an of concern we have A LOT of work to do on educating POTG.

          One could make a solid argument that POTG should STFU until we can learn not to let our own talk like retards.

        • “One could make a solid argument that POTG should STFU until we can learn not to let our own talk like retards.”

          While we would use different words, our analyses align.

        • I’m tired of playing nice with people who undermine us, particularly those *on our side*.

          There should be some sort of required act of contrition for saying shit like “It’s my God given right to own a gun!” or “Owning a gun is a natural right!”. Like, make a video and post it to a specific YT channel of you slapping yourself in the face a certain number of times. Kinda like Hail Marys or Our Fathers for the Catholics.

          Only this should cause some minor physical discomfort.

        • “Only this should cause some minor physical discomfort.”

          Sackcloth and ashes? Self-flagellation?

          Sometimes the old ways are best.

        • “Sackcloth and ashes? Self-flagellation?

          Sometimes the old ways are best.”

          Like the old tall ship British Navy way, ‘Keelhauling’ :

          “The sailor was tied to a line looped beneath the vessel, thrown overboard on one side of the ship, and dragged under the ship’s keel, either from one side of the ship to the other, or the length of the ship (from bow to stern).”

          “The hull of the ship was usually covered in barnacles and other marine growth, and thus, keelhauling would typically result in serious lacerations, of which the victim could later suffer infection and scarring. If the victim was dragged slowly, his weight might lower him sufficiently to miss the barnacles, but this method would frequently result in his drowning.”

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keelhauling

        • Neato!

          I found a Hollywood make-up video that shows what someone keelhauled would likely look like if they had that done to them.

          The sharp, calcium-shelled barnacles do the real damage :

    • If you kill a man, that is homicide. If the action is intentional and illegal, that is murder. Negligent and illegal is manslaughter. But “homicide” does not equal “murder”.

      • “If you kill a man, that is homicide. If the action is intentional and illegal, that is murder.”

        Yes, but….

        How does the general public “hear” those terms? As noted, the public knows that murders are investigated by the “homicide squad” of the local police. Homicide detectives don’t arrest people on “suspicion of homicide”. The public knows homicide detectives arrest people on “suspicion of murder”. It is the intertwining of the terms that is problematic.

        Now, consider a jury made up of people who equate “homicide” with “murder” (as if interchangeable terms). Instructions from the judge regarding the terms “homicide” and “murder” are likely to disabuse people of long held concepts?

        If the cops and the DA determine the matter to be “homicide”, vs. “murder”, that is one thing. Facing a jury to determine if a homicide is murder is a whole ‘nuther country. And regardless of a favorable verdict, the public impression is that the defendant “got away with murder”.

  4. Ok, it’s official…I am a bad, insensitive person. I found myself chuckling as I read the story and cheering the homeowner as I watched the video.

  5. Police: Deadly shooting inside Arlington Heights home was homicide

    Hmmm. Lawful self defense in one’s own home counts as homicide?

    Homicide: The deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another; Murder

    Odd that I couldn’t hear the shot through the ring video, the guy across the street doing his yard work didn’t have a clue.

    • Homicide is the deliberate killing of one person by another. It can be legal or illegal. Legal means it was justified (e.g. self defense). Illegal means it was murder or manslaughter. Murder is often reserved for premeditated illegal homicide. If the death was intended but not premeditated (e.g. a sudden, unplanned fight), it’s voluntary manslaughter. If there was no intention to cause death, it’s involuntary manslaughter.

      Homicide detectives investigate every unnatural death to uncover evidence which should indicate whether the homicide was legal or illegal.

    • Don’t trust wherever you got that definition. It is wrong. It may be the ‘colloquial’ meaning but one should not use a colloquial meaning for a LEGAL term. The same thing happens when people use words like ‘defamation’ or ‘extortion’ without having any clue what they actually mean.

      No, Karen, your hairdresser is not guilty of extortion for raising the price of a dye job.

      • “It may be the ‘colloquial’ meaning but one should not use a colloquial meaning for a LEGAL term.”

        Don’t states have leeway on how they define the term?

    • Jeff, the reason you and the guy across the street did not hear the gunshot is that it had not been fired yet. The article misstated the sequence of events, in that the homeowner wrestled with one crook, ran his ass off, then went back inside, retrieved a gun, and went to find the other holding a gun on his family, shot him in the abdomen and took his family out of the house and then called the cops. When the cops arrived they decided that his survival would be less likely if they insisted SWAT needed to go in the house first. All worked out! The video quit when he was headed back in the house.

    • The homeowner should be able to sue the dead scum criminals estate and the second criminal that survived for the cost to clean up the mess.

      • The invaders’ combined net worth is probably less than the lawyer’s fee.

        One of the limitations of the judicial system is that there isn’t much that can be done to the typical lowlife thug short of imprisoning him for several decades or executing him. His net worth is negligible, he has a crap job or none at all, and a year or two behind bars doesn’t faze him. For most of us, in terms of the effect on our lives, a clean record to a felony conviction with no time served to execution are equal steps.

        • If the prosecutor makes any plea deal contingent on paying damages, I bet he comes up with the money. I don’t know if that is allowed as part of a plea deal in TN.

  6. Should have shot the other P.O.S. or pistol whipped his ass to re constructive surgery on the porch.

    • “Should have shot the other P.O.S. or pistol whipped his ass to re constructive surgery on the porch.”

      Wonder if someone will think to prosecute the homeowner for attacking someone who was just standing on the front porch? Homeowner leaving the safety of his house, leaving a place where there was no threat.

      Seems like fertile field for an up-and-coming anti-gun DA. Just putting the homeowner through “the ride” would be considered success among the gun-grabbers.

    • It looked the the porch fight was straight fisticuffs and the homeowner was neither in the shape nor the attire to run down that guy one he slipped out of beating #1.

  7. Good for them. I wouldn’t post anything like that until the case was completely disposed of, but maybe it is. Two thumbs up for the neighbors. Never understood that “Mark of Cain” syndrome I’ve heard about all these years. I always thought it was bullshit. I’m ostracized for saving my families life? If so, i’ve nothing to say to those individuals anyway. Again. Good show! I can’t imagine you feel good about it, but you did what you did because the bad guys made that decision for you.

  8. Enter my house uninvited and 2xgnashing teeth and fury is your door prize, then however many rounds it takes to stop the threat.
    Hats off to this guy and his family, another scumbag takes the room-temperature challenge and lost.
    Can we bring back Most Painful Elimination Challenge for crooks?

    • My wife’s little puff ball will visit greet them with wagging tail and show them where the good shit is for a dog treat. I miss my big dogs.

  9. So the homeowner invested in a Ring doorbell but isn’t quite smart enough to use it to screen who is on the outside of his door ringing it? The whole purpose of it is so you can find out who’s there without opening your door and having God knows who in your face.

    • I have a Ring Peephole Cam…they pretty much suck. It takes up to a minute to bring the camera up on a device to see what / who is there. The UPS / FedEx truck is gone by the time I can check the system. However, it is fun to check every morning to see how many deer, raccoons, cats, dogs, etc wander through my yard at night.

    • The Ring or Kuna cameras are not just for catching porch pirates. I have my kuna porch light camera and driveway camera set to alert me once someone’s on my property. I can watch them on my phone as they approach and can talk to them via my phone app.

  10. I hear the man didn’t have a gun at the ready. He had to run back inside to open his safe, grab his gun and load it. Then he shot the man who was holding his wife and daughter hostage using a weapon.

    He was not prepared and he is not in shape. Lucky for him the men were not vicious killers and he owned a gun.

    Maybe now that there is a virus trying to kill him, and criminals looking to kill him, he will get in shape and have his gun ready to go before the bad guys get to his family.

      • Maybe if he listened to such constructive criticism before he became a victim of “keyboard quarterbacks” he wouldn’t have allowed the criminals to hold his family hostage? Maybe you should stop being childish and take the advice before your story becomes an opportunity for others to critique for others to prepare properly?

        Don’t be stupid. Learn from others before you have to learn the hard way. Check your ego, stop being so feminine.

        • You’re right. Folks can learn from you not to be a dick.

          Thanks …. I feel enlightened.

        • Feminine ego? This man survived a 2 man rip team. Killed one and beat one down. What credentials do you bring to the table to be evaluating his performance?

          You sound like a mouthy 13yo ‘If I’d had been there I woulda done this and that.’ Get back to us when your testicles drop.

      • Censor does have a point here.

        There is more “magic talisman” thinking, even on this site, than is healthy. People do it about a lot of things without realizing it. It sometimes takes a fair bit of effort to find that thinking in some cases but it’s insidious because it’s an easy trap to fall into.

        In many cases it doesn’t matter because it’s not a life or death topic but where it is a life or death issue it’s important to point out, especially where someone essentially got lucky.

        There’s a valid argument to be made that this homeowner got lucky. To know the true soundness of that argument we need more information, but the overall construction of it is valid, and we can, and probably should, take a moment to examine the situation and see where we may be able to learn from errors someone else made. No situation will be responded to perfectly but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look to improve our response.

      • I think Censor actually has a point here.

        There’s a line between critical analysis and “quarterbacking”. I don’t think he’s crossed it here.

        The simple truth is twofold on this one: 1) no one is perfect but we should always look at what others do, what we do and how we can improve what we’re doing. That’s why watching tape is a thing. 2) There was some luck involved here. Yeah, he the homeowner had a weight and aggression advantage here but those could both have been outweighed if things were slightly different. A knife in the BG’s hand and people would be saying the homeowner was stupid, mostly not realizing that usually you won’t know there’s a knife until it’s too late. That’s the nasty thing about a blade in the hands of someone who’s actually willing to use it.

        It’s also true that overweight/obesity is an issue overall. Now, I know that you’re personally working on this and I’m not trying to insult you but rather make a general statement here. This country has a “don’t fat shame me brah/I’m not fat, they changed the standards!” issue. That’s something that, considering the comorbidity issues surrounding “the virus” should be a fucking wakeup call to a lot of people. It’s not because the mantra is “sTay aT hOmE!!” when it should be “GO THE FUCK OUTSIDE!”. Well, guess what the number one vice people admit to in recent weeks is? The one that’s gone up the most? One vice, two sins: gluttony and sloth. People are now gaining weight FASTER in the face of a pandemic of disease that kills fat people at an alarming rate. That’s straight up *remove glove, sanitize, facepalm* stupid.

        • “That’s straight up *remove glove, sanitize, facepalm* stupid.”

          lolololol! I almost sprayed coffee all over my laptop. That’s a classic! Thanks, Strych9, I needed a good laugh this morning.

    • I dunno, he seemed to do a pretty good job beating the ass of the one criminal on the front yard. And while his pants were falling down, at that. I think Stephen King had a quote about men who can fight naked in The Dark Tower series.

      It’s always good to be in shape for many reasons. But if a guy can fight, he can fight. There’s always someone out there more fit, stronger, faster.

      • “There’s always someone out there more fit, stronger, faster.”

        Or someone smaller, weaker and better armed. A guy who can fight can fight but generally his fighting skills diminish rapidly if you put a knife in him, which is a real possibility in an encounter like this.

        I would also note, from having watched it happen, that someone who can fight fairly well is still at a disadvantage when the other person has a hammer in their hand…

  11. “After his capture Sunday, Finnan told investigators Brodacz claimed to have seen $200,000 cash in boxes in the home 20 years ago and believed it was still there, according to Cook County prosecutors. The family did not know either man, police said.”

      • Look up their last names and see they’re both registered Republicans. It’s tough when the facts don’t line up with your narrative, isn’t it old man?

        • Hannibal. All you have to do is piss of the bernie bros. Which is perishing easy to do. I think most of them were pissed at being born.

        • But for his stance on guns and law enforcement I’d probably align closest to Bernie in the last to elections but I guess it takes more to trigger me than a wealth redistribution snark

        • Hannibal. I’m more middle of the road than bernie. I only side with the hard core right because of the gun issue. The dems could take away a lot of the gop’s support simply by embracing the 2a.

      • Luckily we got Trump to transfer 6.2 trillion dollars… Bernie would have failed to get such a wealth transfer.

        • Indeed. We are lucky at this point in time to have Trump as our president. You and I can finally agree on something.

    • 20 years ago? Doesn’t the perp realize things change? The house changed owners. The owners changed careers. A garage business now has a warehouse. Who knows what else changed there in 20 years.

      • These guys are looking even more ridiculous, if that is true. Plus, dude’s been planning this in his head for 20 years, and that was the best he could come up with?

        • Sounds more like a crack dream to me…

          “Yeah, man, they had boxes of cash…maybe $200k, sitting around in the open when I was there 20 years ago”

          Stupid is as stupid does.

  12. In a perfect world the guy across the street would have been packing when he went to the trash where he could have come running to help his neighbor, instead, he was caught flatfooted and gawking.

  13. If You show up on my property wearing a mask. You had better be in a uniform carrying a box. Other than that you could get a gun stuck in your face. Because I carry from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.

    • Chris,

      Yup. Even when insomnia drives me to patrol the house at 2 AM, I have a Ruger LCP 2 in my pajama pocket. Yes. My pajamas have pockets. That is a requirement

      • When I’m walking around the house at night the only light I use is the streamlight on my G30, it’s become a habit. Feels more natural than a regular flashlight anyway.

        • haha this is the reason a bunch of police departments don’t want their cops to have weapon-mounted lights- because some sharpest tool in the shed would decide that he’s better off using his WML as a flashlight instead of taking the normal one off his belt and using that in a situation not calling for deadly force.

        • Yeah it’s good not being a cop, not a lot of people get away with telling me what i can or can’t do on my property.

        • It wouldn’t be that difficult to train them out of that, Hannibal. There are gun cameras that begin recording when the light is on…

    • “Hey, thanks for delivering. Please place the box on the doorstep, I have a cough and I don’t want to take any chances infecting you, just in case.”

  14. Good news in a terrible situation. Sure glad no humans suffered great trauma or were killed.

    As for criminals busting into an occupied home, that’s up there with the worst possible list of criminal acts. Any bad guy willing to do that is inherently dangerous and immediately threatening to life. Zero sympathy for the criminal home busters. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

    Much sympathy to the pained and traumatized good people forced to fight for their very lives in a split second, going from routine daily home life to terror. Heart goes out to them!

  15. After his initial mistake of letting the two guys in, the homeowner did well. He shot one inside the house and fought the other hand to hand to force him out. When that invader tried to escape, the homeowner let him go and retreated indoors. An anti-gun prosecutor would have a hard time with this in court. The shooting happened indoors. No gun was used outdoors.

    • Yeah one major benefit of the ring system is that you don’t have to open the door to ask people what they’re doing there

    • Kendahl,

      I don’t understand why the homeowner opened the door for those two clowns in the first place. That is a head-scratcher. On the other hand it simply reveals that the homeowner has a good nature and tends to project that onto everyone else.

      Several years ago, some person rang my doorbell. I had a full size semi-auto handgun in a plainly visible outside-waistband holster on my hip. (My shirt was tucked in my pants.) Before I opened my main door, I looked out to see that his hands were plainly visible, that he was holding a clipboard, and had a company I.D. tag hanging around his neck. I also looked around to ensure that he did not have any accomplices 30 feet away. I stepped onto my front porch to talk with him. He was supposedly trying to sell a cleaning system and booking appointments to demonstrate the system to people in their homes. I looked him over again and focused on his beat-up panel van out on the street. He immediately noticed that I was armed and asked if I was a law enforcement officer. I did not get a good vibe and declined his invite. Interestingly, he and his crew never came back to the neighborhood to demonstrate their system. Looking back, they were probably burglars casing homes and I should never have gone out.

    • Technically one could sue the estate of the decedent and the arrested suspect or damages but it’s probably not worth the litigation. The prosecutor might be able to get damages as part of a plea…

    • There are businesses that do nothing else but clean up the pieces and blood from crime scenes. It’s why it’s probably best to cut the rectangle of carpet around the deceased, roll it up and dump it in the woods, or the river.

      • “There are businesses that do nothing else but clean up the pieces and blood from crime scenes.”

        “Like it never even happened” ? Always wondered if that company would address a shooting scene in a home.

        • Probably just easier to dispose of the body yourself rather than endure the police, legal process, cleanup, etc etc. Just my thoughts anyways, then again, I don’t live in the suburbs and if you make it to the end of my road with that intention, you might as well just call the missing persons yourself before you bother trying to invade. Oh shit, did I just say all that online? lol. Seriously tho… we don’t call police.

    • I knew a guy that worked for one of those emergency clean up crews. Fires. Crimes. Suicides. Nasty business. Sometimes insurance covered and other times the homeowner had to cover it.

      To hear him tell it shotgun suicides are the worst. Isn’t that what curt cobain used?

      • I’m not sure anything beats a shotgun to the head at making a mess unless you move into anti-material rifles. Above some point I guess it doesn’t matter.

        Of course, then you have the guys that somehow manage to screw up and don’t die from but instead just blow their faces off…

      • Had a guy in Iraq, from a platoon I was not in, used a shotgun to take his own life. The couple of people who found him were never right after that. Then again, none of us really are anyways.

      • After shotgun suicide you might need to change not just your carpet, but also some walls and part of the ceiling.

    • When CSI (the real one, not the TV crap) gets finished “collecting evidence” this guy will be on the hook for not only clean up but will be replacing what is left of the carpet, painting or repapering the walls and probably painting the ceiling depending on how much blood spatter there is… Homeowners insurance will probably not cover it….

      • Some policies do, other’s don’t. You may want to not ask your insurance company if they cover corpse cleanup, however. Could be seen a premeditation if a dead body suddenly shows up at your place…

    • The D.A. in my area caught the guy that slashed my tire. It was a business vehicle parked in a downtown area overnight. They caught him slashing a tire on another vehicle, then walked around the area to find every other vehicle he did this to. It was just random. They made him buy new tires for everyone. A good D.A. will always try to make the criminal pay for damages.

  16. Cool story! Just a few moments ago I heard a very loud knock on our door…turns out to be a guy from our church. Trying to come in with no mask or gloves. The same guy who was offended I wouldn’t shake his hand on March 8…it’s ok he wasn’t shot😏I’m ALWAYS READY!

  17. Power to the people!
    Shoot to kill.
    Mask or no mask, you best be good looking college girls and selling Rainbow vacuum cleaners or Shackley, lmao.

    • It wouldn’t be the first time home invaders have gotten someone to open the door by using a young woman as bait.

      • You can buy a police or fheriff coat online and unfortunately most in our society are conditioned to be subservient to authority, exactly against the purpose of the Constitution. If they yell police, that just means to grab the rifle, over the pistol or shotty.

      • Couple crackheads when I lived in CA in the suburbs (lol.. it was the fucken ghetto in a studio apt – but we’ll call it suburbia) tried this. Metal screen door (like most ghettos have) and a bit of universal language cleared em out fast as fuck. I swear it was the equivalent of watching rodents scatter.

    • They just wanted to talk about their savior Joseph Smith and that is how mormons greet each other. They knew the 6 foot rule so hoping they made it inside, this poor fella would have no choice but to listen to their shit. Obviously, he wasn’t having any of it.

    • A gun free zone sign and one of those security signs, you know, the ones that beep when you forget the passcode. “protected by a 30 minute response time” or something.

  18. Did anyone else notice the guy across the street who continued mowing his lawn like nothing was happening for the majority of the outdoor fight? Maybe he didn’t notice it because of the noise, but I still found that amusing.

    • It’s the suburbs. Probably thought Jeff from across the steet was just beating his rebellious step son again.

      It’s like having an altercation in a motel parking lot and asking someone to call police. It’s a motel, nobody there can afford to get mixed up in your shit.

  19. Decorative Steel Security door ALWAYS locked.

    At a minimum a J frame in the pocket.

    The American Flag and the Vietnam Veteran plates on the decoy car parked in the driveway should be your first indication we are armed. Even the wife cares a J frame.

    When I look out and I don’t know you I stand behind the solid wood door with a concealed 44.

    You know that Bruce Willis line Surprise Mother F@@ker!

    • Sir-The veteran plates will signify to the right criminal that there could be a gun in it, and break the window just to check. Most criminals don’ want to meet armed resistance but some are prepared for it as they come for the weapons.

      • I have an 1100 pound safe secured to the floor in the basement.

        I have three retired neighbors with guns and we watch out for each other.

        I’m retired and there most often. I’m pretty sure my dogs will say no if I’m not there.

        Colorado we have a Make My Day Law – Castle Doctrine Law. My plates would signify the best thing you could do is moving along. Mostly likely it will cost you your life.

    • In seriousness it just goes to show that you shouldn’t leave valuables around the house when people are there. They saw lots of cash laying around there YEARS ago and figured it was a good mark to hit now.

      • Is it possible the guy that claimed he saw lots of cash there years ago was coming back to the wrong address? Or he just used that lure to get his partner to go along?

        Home carry. Because thats where all the home invasions occur.

  20. Put a security screen door on your front and back doors. Never open that security door to speak to bell-ringers. If you do open your regular front door, even if you think it is legitimately not a criminal, keep the security screen door shut and dead-bolted.

    If all you have is a light duty screen door, at least have that locked. Gives you some few seconds to slam and lock your regular door.

    Oh yes, own guns. Wear ’em or keep handy.

    • Screen doors open out and can be surprisingly tough to rip open. All you have is the handle in one hand. I have deadbolt on my screen doors and they are pretty damn tough.
      There are police videos showing cops having a hello of a time getting through screen doors even with rams. The more they battered the door the more trouble they had getting it out of the way.

      • Unless your SCREEN door is made of something other than extruded aluminum my Ka-Bar says your screen door ain’t shit… Stuff bends like cardboard can easily defeat a deadbolt by bending the door and pulling…. If you replaced SCREENS with bullet proof glass then you’re on the right track… Just sayin’

  21. Home🏡owner smokes one perp. Second perp faces a homicide charge that he probably cannot comprehend. Pays to know the law and pitfalls associated with crime. +1 for the good guys.

  22. @JohnBoch

    I tried post a YouTube link and it didn’t work. So I tried pasting the full URL (sad trombone sound) and TTAG’s nannybot identified it as spam and canned the edit. Dan, your nannybot needs better AI. That’s twice in two days one of my edits was locked up. Just started yesterday…what’s changed on your end?

  23. +1 for figuring out the connection between an American flag being someone who respects the country and probably respects the Constitution, and has a high probability of owning a gun.
    -1000 for deciding that’s the right place for a home invasion instead of a burglary.

  24. Everyone should learn four important lessons from this incident video.
    1 – Never unlock/open your door to anyone you cannot identify as friendly.
    2 – Always have your defensive weapon on your person, not in a safe.
    3 – Always wear shoes when kicking a home invader’s ass.
    4 – When kicking a home invader’s ass in front of your front door camera…..Always…PLEASE…ALWAYS wear a belt or suspenders!!!! PLEASE….for the children…and my eyes!!!!
    Not an image to be easily unseen.

    • Even if you don’t open your door, it could easily be kicked in. I used to think that was just in the movies, but it’s true. Anyone that knows how to throw a kick can make that deadbolt useless in one try.

      • depends where you live and what year the house was made. in some locations the new construction doors have to swing outward for hurricane codes, and kicking them in requires a lot more force.

  25. I live 5 minutes from where this occurred and never even knew it happened until today (although now that I think about it, I do recall hearing sirens last weekend). It’s very alarming how close this was. While it’s true that the home invaders targeted the house based on the recollection of one of them that 20 years ago there was a box of money there, the fact that it happened so close to home…it makes one want to be doubly sure they are prepared just in case.

  26. No one has asked the question: Why was this putz in this home (reportedly) 20 years ago and why was there (reportedly) boxes of money where he could see them?

    Hopefully the investigation will lead to whomever occupied the home at that time and what business they may have engaged in….or, it could be that the whole story by the perps is bogus to begin with…just an excuse for a home invasion / robbery.

    Kudos to the current homeowner for accuracy under pressure and the beatdown.

  27. This little detail doesn’t make much sense to me: “…homeowner retrieved a handgun from a safe and confronted Brodacz, who was pointing his own firearm at the homeowner’s family, police said. Brodacz attacked the homeowner with a knife…”
    Why the invader attacked with a knife if he already held firearm in his hand?

    • I agree that is weird. Perp has dad’s family at gunpoint and presumably could’ve forced dad to drop his gun. But then perp abandons his hostages and attacks dad…with a knife? WTF?

  28. Well, lucky for the homeowner that the police came and secured the premises, or things might have gotten violent…oh wait, nevermind.

    Hm, the police “secured” the premises, or just cleaned up the mess and bagged the perps after the fact?

  29. i did thoroughly enjoy the homeowner giving the 2nd perp a solid and respectable ass-whooping on camera, but that was a risky decision when he probably would have been justified in shooting the 2nd perp.

    • He was not armed at the time. Suspect that he reasoned that home carry wasn’t necessary. Some on this site advocate such.

  30. Did the robbers have a gun? Yes? Then this crime is attributable to the availability of guns in American society. Leaving the feel-good aspect of this story aside (dead robber and homeowner’s victory), does access to guns and ammunition by the general public make us safer or more imperiled?

    • “…does access to guns and ammunition by the general public make us safer or more imperiled?”

      If the question is not mockery/sarcasm, I have to ask, “Really? You are coming to the game this late, and still have the question of safety?”

      Presuming your question is a real challenge, not tongue-in-cheek, I have a couple for you:
      – Were the invaders legal gun owners?
      – If not, what is the “common sense” plan to remove guns from the criminal element, across the country?

      Criminals don’t obey laws (hence the term “criminal”). Passing more laws will not make criminals law-abiding What is the “common sense” plan to remove all firearms from the hands of gangs and other law breakers? Will society be measurably safer if only criminals, gangs and government (Donald Trump) have firearms?

  31. That moment you realize your that the home owner is gonna rape the shit out of you for trying to break in …….

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