By: Robert Davis
Ammon Lutz’s three teenagers were home playing video games on spring break in Oregon when they heard someone rummaging around in the garage.
Lutz’s 17-year-old son seemed pretty distressed when he woke his dad up around 4 a.m., the 45-year-old bus driver recounted. The children’s father quickly got dressed and grabbed his pistol.
Lutz found two adults, later identified as 22-year-old Ryan Best and 21-year-old Arcelia Vasquez-Smith, in his garage. Lutz told his kids to call 911 while he held the two trespassers at gunpoint.
“I commanded them to get on the ground real loud,” Lutz told Gunpowder Magazine. “The woman was shaken-up from it. It was pretty obvious to me they were either high or drunk.”
Within 10 minutes, the police arrived and took over the situation. Lutz admitted he was a little emotional after the confrontation.
“I’ve never had to use my gun as a tool to defend myself,” Lutz said. “I think they were pretty scared, too. I’m not a small guy.”
Neither Best nor Vasquez-Smith attempted to harm Lutz, but Best did yell at him while he was lying on the ground. Lutz said it was pretty clear Best and Vasquez-Smith weren’t trying to steal anything. They told him they were just in the wrong place. But Lutz wasn’t going to risk his family’s safety by letting his guard down.
“I never felt my life was in jeopardy or anything,” Lutz said. “I never felt out of control. My finger wasn’t even on the trigger.”
If either trespasser had become a problem, Lutz said he was willing to shoot to protect his family.
“It’s important to get good training and keep yourself informed about guns,” Lutz said.
Both Best and Vasquez-Smith were charged with criminal trespassing, KEZI.com reported.
Robert Davis is a journalist from Colorado. He covers defensive gun use and Second Amendment litigation for Gunpowder Magazine. Contact him at [email protected].