Indiana

“Linebacker Days Came Back”: 275-Pound Homeowner Sits on Would-Be Robber Until Cops Arrive

The 21-year-old would-be thief knocked on the former high school linebacker's door and demanded $100 million, authorities say

A man who demanded $100 million from a homeowner was arrested Sunday night when he tried to hold up the 63-year-old Castaic resident, a former linebacker recovering from back surgery who wrestled the man to the ground and sat on him, authorities said Monday.

At about 10:30 Sunday evening, the would-be thief knocked on the door of Jeff Preach's Sloan Canyon Road residence.

"I said, ‘What the hell do you want?’ and he says, ‘I want a hundred million dollars,’ and I said, ‘Well you came to the wrong house,'" Preach said.

The intruder, identifed as 21-year-old Salvador Medrano, then allegedly Preach in the face and a fist fight ensued. Preach said that because of recent back surgery he was still using a walker last week and wasn't supposed to lift anything.

"I’m not supposed to lift 10 pounds and here’ I’m rolling around in a fistfight in my house for crying out loud, with this knucklehead," Preach said.

After a struggle, Preach pinned the suspect down.

"All of a sudden my high school linebacker days came back to me,'' he told the Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

While Preach's wife dialed 911, he sat his 275-pound body on top of the suspect. Preach’s house guest, Larry Bensel, then helped hold the intruder down while Preach grabbed a shotgun.

“You just heard him lock and load that shotgun, and I said you know, you’re in a bad spot,” Bensel said.

It took about five deputies to subdue Medrano and arrest him, according to Deputy Josh Dubin of the sheriff's Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station. Medrano was arrested on suspicion of robbery and resisting arrest.

Preach said he won’t have to go to court to testify because the intruder admitted to authorities that he was high on heroin and went to the home to get money.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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