Woman Unmasks Burglar: It's Her Grandson

Just as she suspected
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 18, 2013 8:48 AM CDT
Woman Unmasks Burglar: It's Her Grandson
A grandmother pulled off a burglar's bandana (it was actually purple) to find it was her grandson.   (Shutterstock)

An Albuquerque grandmother thought she recognized a masked burglar who entered her home on Friday morning—and when Pamela Dearinger managed to rip off his bandana, her suspicions were confirmed: It was her grandson, police say. Thomas Clark, 22, came in through the back door while she was watching TV, she says; he grabbed her, and that's when she pulled off the bandana. He knocked her down and stole her purse—Dearinger pegged the value of it and its contents at $507—before fleeing, reports the Albuquerque Journal.

Police caught up with him at his parents' house several hours afterward, KRQE reports. Why the desperate need for cash? Police say Clark told them his friends suggested it would be a great way to fund a trip to a nearby casino. Worse still, he's broken in once before to steal a TV, his grandmother says in the criminal complaint. Clark now faces felony charges. His grandmother was bruised and received cuts to her wrist and mouth in the altercation, but she says she's OK. (More burglar stories.)

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