 "Photo: Casey Prather / The Towerlight")
When faced with a home intruder, some people, if not most people, call the police. One Baltimore man, however, fought back.
A Johns Hopkins University student, armed with a samurai sword, killed a man who broke into his garage early Tuesday morning.
Police have now identified the burglary suspect as Donald D. Rice, 49, and the student as John Pontolillo, 20, of Wall, N.J.
At approximately 1:20 a.m., officers responded to a report of a suspicious person at a home in the 300 block of E. University Parkway. Neighbors reported to the police that a heavyset black male wearing a black T-shirt was on the porch around the house, detective Dony Moses, information officer for the Baltimore Police Department, said. At that time, they did a preliminary investigation on the matter.
“A short time thereafter, we were called back to the house for an injured person,” Moses said.
The homeowner stumbled upon the suspect in the garage of his home and was carrying the samurai sword at the time. The student ordered the burglar to stand still, according to Moses, and the suspect lunged at the student.
“The student, in a panic, swung the samurai sword, striking the left wrist of the suspect and partially severing his hand,” Moses said. “The suspect then fell to the floor, at which time he bled out and died on the scene.”
Rice had been released Saturday from a Baltimore County facility and has “a lengthy record” with the police department, Moses said.
Homicide detectives are currently investigating the case, which is protocol, Moses said. The police department is currently going through the interview process of the investigation.
Three other people were in the house with the student at the time.
Pontolillo was not harmed during the confrontation.
At this point, charges against Pontolillo are still pending. It will be up to the state attorney’s office to decide whether or not he will be charged, Moses said.
JHU’s Dean of Student Life, Susan Boswell, sent out a statement concerning the incident Tuesday afternoon. In it, she mentioned a recent increase in burglaries in the areas North and East of the college campus. The student's home had been burglarized Monday, having two laptops and a Sony PlayStation stolen. Police presence had been increased in the area because of the increase in crime.
“That enhanced presence will continue at least until it is known whether the intruder involved in this morning’s incident was responsible for the other break-ins,” Boswell said in the statement.
Boswell also advised that, should other students encounter an intruder in their home, that they call 911 instead of confronting that person. Students have been encouraged to go over security policies as well.
“Please take this advice seriously. We were very fortunate that no student was harmed last night,” Boswell said in her statement. “All of us should take action to minimize the chances that we will be victimized. While the University and the police are our active partners in fighting crime on and around campus, our personal safety is, at bottom, also very much our personal responsibility.”
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13 comments
Obviously not there to study.
Nobody here knows the facts of the case... In fact the student wielding the sword is probably the only person that really knows the truth. It is important for the police to investigate to see if the burglar was needlessly killed (i.e. murdered). That is our law. It's good law, shaped by people who've spent a lifetime thinking about these situations, and then adopted by our representative government.
So wait and see what the cops find.