Bakersfield, Ca. -- What would you do if you came home to find three men burglarizing your house? According to Kern County Sheriff's Deputies that's what happened to a man in southwest Bakersfield Friday morning and he fired shots to stop them.
Neighbors said the man is in his thirties, a businessman who had a concealed carry permit. They say he told them he never planned to be home at the time of the burglary.
"I was sleeping," said Tye Shadden. "I heard yelling outside, he was telling them to lay down, on the ground."
That's when Shadden said he woke up, heard three shots and called 911.
"I got on the phone and called the cops," said Shadden.
He never knew that outside his neighbor was stopping a burglary in progress on his front lawn.
"When you're sleeping and then you hear gun shots, it's like you don't know how, like your mind's not completely awake," said Shadden.
Shadden said his neighbor told him he had gone to work but then realized he forgot his laptop charger.
"He flipped a u-turn and came back and that's when he seen people backed up in the driveway," said Chris Genel, the homeowner's neighbor.
According to Kern County Sheriff's deputies the alleged burglars backed up in a gold truck.
"They started loading stuff from his backyard," said Shadden.
"He didn't have a cell phone handy so his first instinct was to pull his firearm, fire some rounds in the ground and get their attention," said Genel. "I respect the fact that he had that idea not so much to cause bodily harm but to handle the situation."
Neighbors said the suspects have been seen in the neighborhood before.
"Some neighbors said their seen people riding up on bicycles," said Genel.
But neighbors don't think they'll see them again.
"I am not saying that's a good thing this happened but there are people like this who are not going to take it," said Genel.
Property from other possible victims was found in the truck but sheriff's deputies said they had not yet found an owner.
Three suspects were arrested: 35-year-old Jesse Perez, 35-year-old Edward Anaya and 35-year-old Miguel Reyes.