Neighbors hold burglary suspect at gunpoint until police arrive

UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A group of neighbors are being credited with helping police prevent a possible burglary in Union Township last month.

According to police, officers were called to an unoccupied home on Route 88 when neighbors noticed a man, later identified as 34-year-old Jed Shoemaker, loitering and prowling outside a home with several instruments of crime.

Jim Cain told Channel 11’s Cara Sapida that he was on his porch July 21 when he saw Shoemaker pull up to the house and “lurk” around.

Cain said they found Shoemaker on the porch of the house and told him to freeze.

“I said, ‘Freeze. Don’t move or we are going to shoot,’” Cain said. “He froze and stayed. He also asked us what kind of guns we were carrying -- which I thought was very weird.”

Authorities said when the officers arrived, the group of neighbors, including Cain, were holding Shoemaker at gunpoint.

“We don’t stand for this stuff in our neighborhood,” Cain said. “(Another neighbor) was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun and I was carrying a pistol, which I have a permit to carry.”

Upon investigating, police found a claw hammer, a crow bar and a flashlight. Officers said Shoemaker told them that he was intending on breaking into the residence to “see what was inside.”

“No complaints about the neighbors. They did nothing wrong. They simply held him until we arrived,” Southwest Regional Police Chief Hartman said.

Shoemaker was charged with loitering and prowling at night, as well as possessing instruments of crime.

WPXI