Homeowner turns tables on man who broke into building
December 17, 1998
© 1998 Republican-American (Waterbury, Conn.)
By Terry Corcoran
WATERBURY — A man who broke into a house on Pine Street early Wednesday got an armful
of shotgun pellets courtesy of the homeowner, who awoke to find him in the kitchen and
shot him, police said.
The homeowner, a retired city teacher who owns and renovates houses throughout Waterbury,
shot the burglar once with a 16-gauge shotgun, then walked to the 7-11 convenience store
on Cooke Street to call police. There is no phone at 360 Pine St.
Capt. Kathleen Wilson said from a preliminary review, it appears the homeowner, Louis
Steponaitis of Torrington, was within his rights when he shot the suspect just a few
minutes past midnight in the house he's renovating across from Fulton Park.
Wilson declined to identify the 40-year-old suspect, who remained in Waterbury Hospital
late Wednesday, but said police would charge him with burglary. Wilson said police were
waiting to confer with Waterbury State's Attorney John Connelly to determine whether to
charge the man with first- or second-degree burglary.
First-degree burglary involves breaking into a dwelling while carrying a weapon, hurting a
resident or attempting to hurt a resident. Second-degree burglary is breaking into a
dwelling at night. Both are felonies.
Connelly returned to his office late Wednesday afternoon and said he was waiting to
receive a police report. But he said "from what I'm told preliminarily, there will be
no charges filed" against Steponaitis.
Steponaitis, who retired last year after teaching special education at Wilby High School
and North End Middle School, is renovating the two-story house with his son, Louis.
Steponaitis, a mountain of a man at 6-foot-6 and about 275 pounds, had been working at the
house the past few weeks, but practically every night, he said, someone was kicking in the
front door, kicking a hole through a sheet rock wall and robbing him, he said.
Sunday night, burglars stole more than $1,000 in ceramic tiles Steponaitis had planned
to put in the house. That, he said, was the final straw.
"I decided to sleep in the house for a few nights, but I wasn't going to do it alone,
so I brought my shotgun," he said Wednesday, while continuing work on the house.
Steponaitis, who owns several houses around the corner on Bishop Street, said he let
people in the neighborhood know he was staying overnight at 360 Pine St.
Monday night came and went without incident. But around midnight Tuesday, Steponaitis was
awakened by the sound of someone kicking in his front door, then kicking a hole through
three sheets of 5/8-inch thick sheet rock.
"I heard a crash and I grabbed my shotgun. I left the bedroom and went into the
(second-floor) kitchen," said Steponaitis, who wears thick glasses but didn't have
them on. "I saw the guy in the kitchen moving toward me. It looked like he had
something in his hand and he was lifting his hand. I was about 8 feet away when I fired my
shotgun.
I tried not to aim it directly at him."
The suspect was still in the kitchen when police and medics arrived after midnight. Police
confiscated the shotgun as part of the investigation.
"I'm angry," Steponaitis said. "I have insurance on my houses, but my
insurance company would drop me if I put in a claim every time I got broken into. I had to
do something to protect my property."
Steponaitis, a Waterbury native, said he's spent more than $3,000 in the Pine Street house
alone to repair damage done by burglars and replace stolen items. While police continue
their investigation, Steponaitis said he's hoping would-be burglars will take a cue from
the guy who broke into his house early Wednesday and stay out.
