LADERA RANCH, Calif. -- A barking Great Dane alerted a sleeping Ladera Ranch family to an intruder who was pummeled and held for sheriff's deputies, authorities said.
Zachary Chanoski, 22, of Rancho Santa Margarita, allegedly entered the home on Thornhill Drive about 2 a.m., said Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
The barking 160-pound dog alerted Nick Garvin, the homeowner's 14-year-old son, he said.
Garvin went to investigate, and saw a man with a scarf over his face and a sock over his hand going through his mother's purse.
"I opened the door and I see his foot there and see him digging through my mom's purse and I screamed for my dad. I yelled at him, 'Dad, dad, there's a guy in the house,"' Garvin told KCAL9
Garvin's father, Michael Garvin, who has a leg in a cast, came down and started struggling with the suspect, who stomped on Michael Garvin's foot so hard the cast was broken, Amormino said.
Michael Garvin then broke his crutch, whacking the intruder, Channel 9 reported.
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Asked if the man picked the wrong house, Nick Garvin said, "Oh, he had no idea."
"It was great," Nick Garvin said. "I was on the phone actually with the operator and my mom was struggling, and she started lugging on him. I was like, 'Get down. Stay down.'" The cop goes, 'What's going on Nick? Tell me right now, What's going on?' And I was like, 'My parents are fighting the suspect.'"
Michael Garvin, reportedly trained in karate, said he simply reacted to the situation.
"I was doing what I think just came natural to protect my family at any risk, any cost," the father said. "You just don't think about it. You do it."
Chanoski was later booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of burglary and assault, Amormino said.
