HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Terry Willis' security cameras caught a group of would-be thieves pulling on locked car doors just after midnight Tuesday in the Villages of Cypress Lakes in Cypress.
"I had a UTV that was on the back of the truck, hooked to it, and they had got up into the side-by-side and were trying to take it off of the trailer," Willis said.
But little did the perpetrators know whose property they were treading on.
"For approximately 20 years, I’ve had a concealed weapons permit. I’ve also been through hunter safety courses. I’ve built guns. I've built the ARs," Willis said.
Motion detectors outside of his home set off an alarm, leading him to take matters into his own hands.
"I told them, I said, I don’t think you want to do this," as he walked out of his house with an AR-15 drawn and pointed in their direction.
"I racked the bolt back, put the shell in the chamber," he said.
But he didn’t shoot.
"They were leaving and that was what I wanted, I wanted them away from here, I don’t want to kill somebody but if it comes to that to protect my family, I will," Willis said.
It's something KHOU 11 News legal analyst Carmen Roe said Willis had every right to do under the state’s Castle Doctrine.
"In Texas, the 'Castle Doctrine' gives any citizen the right to exhibit a weapon or use deadly force when it’s immediately necessary to prevent another’s attempt to commit burglary or theft of property at night. Under Texas law, Mr. Willis was well within his rights to display a gun to prevent kids from burglarizing his vehicle and stealing his property at night," Roe said.
Willis said the crime has pushed him to his wit's end.
"I’ve worked for 40 years of my life. Everything that I’ve got ... never stole anything and I’m just not taking it anymore," Willis said.
As for any copycat offenders, "This isn’t the place to come because we’re tired of it," Willis said.
Fortunately, no one was hurt, and none of Willis's property was damaged. Precinct 4 constable deputies said that if you know who could be responsible -- call them.