Santa Clara Resident Shoots Burglar Trying to Kick In Door to Home

City of Santa Clara police reported today that they charged a 26-year-old Los Gatos man wounded in a July 11 breakin attempt with burglary. The suspect was shot and wounded by a resident as the intruder kicked in the rear door to a residence in the 1000 block of Santa Clara Street, police said in a statement.

On Sunday, July 11, at about 1:49 am, Santa Clara officers responded to the 1000 block of Santa Clara Street on a report of a prowler, police said. “The reporting party said a male suspect was in the backyard of their home,” police said. “As units responded to the call, they learned that gunshots had been fired.”

The subsequent investigation revealed that the occupants of the home were awakened by the sounds of pounding and kicking on their doors and windows.  The suspect broke a window at the front of the home, police said, then forcibly kicked open a rear door, “at which time the resident fired multiple shots at him.”

“The gunshots immobilized the suspect,” police said There are no known associations between the suspect and the residents, according to police.

Police identified the suspect as Spencer Olson, a 26-year-old male resident of Los Gatos.  He was arrested for burglary and transported to an area hospital for treatment.

The victim was not named, and was identified as a 51-year-old male resident of Santa Clara.  He has been cooperative with the investigation, police said.

Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact Detective Sergeant Jake Malae at (408) 615-4846, Detective Adam Wilson at (408) 615-4818 or via the Anonymous Tip Line at (408)615-4TIP (4847).

 

 

13 Comments

  1. Let’s hope that the DA doesn’t go all PC and charge the homeowner. An aggressive stranger breaking into an occupied home in the middle of the night warrants force.

    About 10 more righteous self-defense shootings will drop the crime rate substantially.

  2. Was this an attempted burglary or an impairment-related mistake? Kicking in residential doors at that hour is neither stealthy nor a familiar M.O., but it is a not unheard of occurrence around bar closing time. I suspect young Mr. Olsen may have been attempting to continue his wild night out, possibly following up on a promise, and wound up at the wrong house getting a bang like he never imagined.

  3. PTE: HIs motives don’t matter. The homeowner has no knowledge of what the intruder’s intentions are. The only considerations should be;

    1. It was at night
    2. It was violent and aggressive
    3. What was the homeowner’s state of mind. Did he believe that he or his family was in danger of great bodily harm or death? What did the intruder say? What did the homeowner say?

    Maybe the suspect would be eligible for a Darwin Award nomination — but the homeowner doesn’t know that at the time.

    If the DA wants to beat Mr. Kahn in the upcoming election, he had better start providing the voters with an option to Kahn. If Rosen stays as far left and looney as Kahn, the voters might as well vote for Kahn — or just not show up to vote for Rosen.

  4. Yes, a mistake indeed was possible, and it’s the kind of mistake that can be fatal.

    Let us hope that the state’s decline doesn’t include prosecution of the homeowner for a) having and b) using a gun [gasp; shudder].

  5. Ashli Babbit was not on private property.
    Steven I think your CAPS LOCK key may be stuck on your keyboard. Or are you trying make your false arguments true by yelling them?

  6. A certain whackadoodle continues to derail the arguments on SJI… Sadly this is what the left does when they know they are on the wrong side of history. The current climate will not play out well for them in the long run….

  7. If you are in your home, and a lawful, registered gun owner – then you have every right to defend your household against an intruder. This is one of several cases, recently, where a law abiding gun owner protected themselves, in their own home, from someone trying to kick down a door, or come through the window.

    Even if a suspect is unarmed – the homeowner will not know that at the time, nor should they take the chance (especially if elderly and vulnerable) to allow an intruder to grab a hold of them and do who knows what. What runs through my mind in that scenario, is “what if they overpower me, and get to my kids.” It’s not happening. No other human has a right to break down your front door and enter your home, and you have every right to defend yourself at that point. Simple as that.

  8. Ashli Babbit was unarmed and attempting to petition her govt for a redress of grievances, since the govt had unilaterally decided to shut down the civil process by refusing to hear ANY of the hundreds of cases filed for that purpose.

    She was not breaking into a residence, but rather entering a govt that is owned by the citizens of the US, of which she was one, and is a public institution in which the public servants who serve at the pleasure of the citizens gather, not a private residence.

    Yes, Ashli Babbit was murdered, and by the way had not engaged in any violent behavior, in addition to being there for a lawful and Constitutionally protected purpose, as opposed to a home invader whose actions are violent and intentions clearly unlawful.

  9. Really Goldberger, you have pushed a bad hand over the cliff and declared your self a winner again.
    Time for a drink and some happy pills!

  10. It’s been two weeks. Is the burglar still in the hospital? Handcuffed to the bed? In jail or out on no-cash bail?

  11. This man didn’t just do this to this home he also did it across the street from the house that night he stole my safe and pissed so don’t feel bad for him he’s staying in jail if I have anything to do with it

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