Homeowner Pulls Gun On Two Thieves

Following a recent spree of crime, one Goshen man took matters into his own hands.

Michael Morse was about to become the city’s latest victim of a burglary. That was, until he pulled out a legally owned handgun on two thieves trying to break into his home around 9:30 p.m. Sunday night.

On Saturday, criminals stole more than $3,000 in auto parts and power tools from a home he’s renovating along Olive Street.

On Sunday, he went to count his losses for the police report. After walking inside, he heard a noise in the backyard and then came face-to-face with the two men trying to break in.

“I drew my gun out and just pointed it at them to keep them from coming towards me and I told them to freeze,” Morse recalled.

Morse’s run-in marks the fifth serious crime Goshen Police have handled in the last eight days alone.

Just after 1 a.m. Saturday, four men beat and robbed a man inside the Brookside Manor Mobile Home Park.

Later that day, officers found Adel Gutierrez, 25, shot inside his family’s Mexican bakery along S. Main Street in downtown.

Paramedics took Adel Gutierrez to IU Health Goshen Hospital where he underwent surgery and is now recovering. Gutierrez, who has a criminal track record himself, says he was too drunk to remember who shot him Saturday.

Last week, investigators arrested Chad Weddle, 18, in connection with 22 home break-ins across Elkhart County.

Weddle’s arrest came only days after someone beat and stabbed Goshen College professor James Miller to death inside his home.

Miller’s killer is still on the loose as Goshen’s small town atmosphere starts to fill with big city crime.-[source]