A Pennsylvania family is thanking their senior rescue dog for saving them from an alleged intrusion. The 9-year-old pit bull named Spuds not only tackled the trespasser but also help restrain him until the police arrived at their Altoona home. “Spuds is a protector,” claimed the pooch’s owner Leroy Rucker.
The terrifying incident unfolded on March 24, and Spuds took the opportunity to show his fierce love for his family. Recalling the events of the day, Rucker told Fox 8, “I was just sitting in here watching TV and YouTube with the dogs like I always do.” Then suddenly the suspect, identified as 53-year-old Robert Burke Jr., allegedly burst through the door, according to Fox News.
Wasting no time, the owner and his beloved Spuds sprang into action. “He wasn’t going to just walk in my house uninvited,” Rucker said of Burke. “I don’t know you like that buddy. Spuds didn’t like it either,” he told WJAC-TV. As soon as Spuds saw his owner fighting, he too joined him to help apprehend the intruder.
“He was coming to hang out with dad. That’s all I can say. He sees me fighting, he wants to fight,” explained Rucker during the interview. After realizing that he had been overpowered, Burke chose to surrender but to call the police someone needed to keep an eye on the suspect and Spuds rose to the occasion.
As Rucker called 911, his brave pet kept Burke in check for 20 minutes until the police finally arrived at their home. “The guy (Burke) listened. I mean, he listened better when the dog was right there present, you know what I mean,” shared the owner. When cops entered the property they found Burke sitting calmy on the living room floor, waiting for them.
The suspect was transported to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries that he had suffered during the altercation. He later confessed that he had been drinking alcohol and had been under the influence of methamphetamine and marijuana before forcefully entering Rucker’s house. Police eventually revealed that Burke had burglarized another home right, even pushed a woman in the face, before attempting to do the same at Rucker’s home.
The intruder was charged with criminal trespass, burglary, simple assault, and harassment and has since been released on bond. As for Spuds he had become a local celebrity in his community but a local sanitation worker Steven Rightenour says that the senior pooch had been popular even before the incident. “I’m a garbageman. I deal with dogs everyday — five or six days a week — but Spuds is very protective of his family. He knows good and bad, and that’s what dogs are supposed to do,” said Rightenour. Meanwhile, Rucker said, “For them, it’s protection. For me, its love.”
Cover image source: SBG/Blair County Prison
