When Paul Bentley woke to noise outside his south Nanaimo home early Friday, he jumped from his bed and into a homeowner’s nightmare.
He found smashed glass and a stranger armed with two baseball bats breaking in.
“And I come around the corner, and this is where I see his hands in the door,” Bentley told CHEK News on Sunday inside his Nanaimo home.
It happened at 3:20 a.m. Friday in Cinnabar Valley, where many families move for bigger lots and a quieter neighbourhood.
But Bentley said instead, a man armed with two bats, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol, had just broken through this kitchen window and was fighting the 57-year-old to get into his Roberta Road East home where Bentley’s loved ones were.
“This is my home. I’ll protect my home,” said Bentley, a grandfather of two.
“He started to wail on me with the bats, and I thought to myself, ‘What are you doing?’ So it clicked in right away, and I really stress to people you gotta take the moment to click in, and you’re in a fight. This kid was jacked up,” he said.
‘He was kicking me, kicking my legs’
Bentley said he fought as hard as he could to keep the intruder out of his home, as his common-law wife called 911.
“He was kicking at me, kicking my legs, kicking at my stomach. Yeah, when they’re high, they’re pretty tough,” he said.
According to Bentley, when police arrived, the suspect turned on officers.
“He started to fight the police, and they ended up having to tase him just to get him out of here,” said Bentley.
Neighbour Erika Lok said the crime has shaken people’s sense of security in Cinnabar.
“I think people here are a little bit unsettled. I think people here really care for each other in this neighbourhood. People are just really concerned about their own safety, about their kids’ safety,” said Lok.
According to Nanaimo RCMP, the 20-year-old suspect is well known to police and is now facing charges of assault with a weapon, break and enter, resisting arrest and breach of probation for previous offences. He remains in police custody.
“This was a scary situation. This was a high-risk situation, yeah,” said Bentley
Remarkably, Bentley escaped with just bruises and cuts. Sunday, he went looking for a guard dog for his home.
“Yeah, we’re going to look at a Rottweiler today,” said Bentley.
After the safety of his own home came under threat, and this strong grandfather fought back with all he had.
Nanaimo RCMP credit Bentley’s quick thinking and calling 911 to prevent further violence.
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Skye Ryan
