Homeowner Holds Grady County Burglar At Gunpoint, Calls Police

A Grady County man woke up to an intruder in his home and held him at gunpoint until deputies arrived.

On May 9 just before 2 a.m., an affidavit showed dispatch received a call from a woman saying a man had tried to break into her home. Deputies started in her direction.

Then, a second call came in to 911, about an intruder at a home nearby. 

“911 what’s the address of your emergency?” The operator said.

“We just woke up and someone was in our house,” the second caller said.

Deputies headed that way hot.

“We’ve got units on the way up there as fast as they can get up there, OK?” The operator said.
“OK, thank you so much,” the caller replied.

The homeowner, who didn't want to show his face, said it started when his family heard a bang. And he ran into the hallway with his gun to find 28-year-old Travis Thrash.

“He just had the scariest look on his face like he had no idea what was about to happen, because I had my gun pretty much right in his forehead immediately,” the homeowner told News 9.

The homeowner took control, got Thrash to the front porch and gave him commands.

“Get down on the ground! Get down on the [expletive] ground!” He could be heard saying in the background of the 911 audio.

His wife continued to stay on the phone with dispatchers.

“I looked at our front door. Our front door is busted,” she told them.

Grady County Sheriff Jim Weir said deputies arrived to find Thrash on his knees with his hands up, held at gunpoint by the homeowner.

“I’ve got to give the homeowner kudos because you can hear on the tape – he was giving him orders and commands and he was forceful enough that the man listened to him and got him out of the house,” Sheriff Weir said.

The homeowner's military background might've helped him with this ordeal. But he said it was just his instinct to keep his loved ones safe.

“I’ve got three kids so I didn’t want anybody to make it to their room before I made it to them,” he said.

Thrash initially told investigators he had smoked LSD prior to the incident. But Sheriff Weir said the next day, Thrash said it may have been meth.

Thrash is charged with first degree burglary.