FRANKLIN, INDIANA — An armed, 78-year-old woman prevented a drunken intruder from breaking into her house early Sunday, firing at him and holding him at bay until police arrived.

Monice Peterson, who lives in the 600 block of South Home Avenue, was awakened shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday when she heard someone pounding on her back door, she told police.

She went to investigate and found a man — later identified as Earl S. Feathers — kicking a hole in the wall next to the door to her back porch, according to the police report.

Peterson called 911 at 12:58 a.m. While she was on the phone with the 911 operator, Feathers created a hole big enough to enter and came inside the porch, she told dispatchers.

Peterson then warned Feathrs that if he came any further she would shoot him, according to the police report.

He started to move toward her again, and she fired one shot from her .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun, she told police. The bullet missed Feathers and went through the porch wall.

Feathers tried to escape through the opening he had kicked, but Franklin police arrived as he was trying to wriggle out, according to the police report. Officers John Moore and Roger Logsdon dragged Feathers the rest of the way out of the hole and handcuffed him, Moore’s report says.

Feathers told officers he was just trying to get into his own home. He said he thought he was at another address in the 600 block of South Home Avenue, according to the police report.

Moore reported that Feathers’ eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred, prompting the officer to administer a breath test to check for alcohol use. The 50-year-old Franklin resident tested 0.136 percent BAC, according to Moore’s report.

Feathers told police he’d only had two beers.

Feathers was taken to the Johnson County jail and released on $4,000 bond Sunday. He faces a Class D felony charge of residential entry and a Class B misdemeanor charge of public intoxication.

Peterson reportedly was not injured.

Elderly woman holds intruder for police

Originally ran here as:
"Franklin woman, 78, shoots at intruder"
Intoxicated suspect kicked hole through wall when victim fired bullet, police say.
by Associated Press
The Indianapolis Star
October 23, 2001

FRANKLIN, INDIANA — A 78-year-old woman shot at a man who tried to enter her home through a hole he had kicked in the wall and held him at bay until police arrived.

The woman found a man kicking a hole in the wall next to the door of her back porch after she heard someone pounding on her back door about 1 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

While she was on the phone calling 911, the man made a hole big enough to enter and came inside the porch, the victim told dispatchers.

When he ignored her warning to stop, she fired one shot from a semiautomatic handgun, striking the porch wall, police said.

The man tried to escape through the hole he had made, but police said officers arrived before he could wriggle out.

The man, identified as Earl S. Feathers, 50, of Franklin, told authorities he thought he trying to enter his own home, the newspaper said.

Feathers was arrested on charges of residential entry and public intoxication.

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