Saturday - March 24, 2007

Home Owner Defends Himself

The right to bear arms saved a local man from a burglar armed with a sledgehammer.   Mr. Buck, who was hit by the sledgehammer, apparently is a fairly good shot, hitting the intruder five times.  One thing to note in this story is the long criminal record of Millard Brandenburg.  He was released from jail just last month.  

Jamie Buck was asleep early Friday when a sledgehammer shattered his side door's window and a stranger burst into his rented home, demanding money or jewelry.

That was the last demand would ever make.

Brandenburg, 31, was shot to death inside Buck's Bishop Avenue home early Friday, seven weeks after Brandenburg's latest release from jail. A preliminary investigation suggests the shooting was justified, authorities say.

Buck, who told police he was hit in the head with the sledgehammer, was treated at Fort Hamilton Hospital. He told police in a 911 call that he had shot the intruder.

Brandenburg suffered a fatal gunshot to the head, three shots in the chest and a fifth shot in the left side, Butler County Coroner Richard Burkhardt said. Brandenburg tested positive for alcohol use; tests showing his blood-alcohol level and any other drugs were being processed, the coroner said.

Buck, 33, who said he didn't know the intruder, appears to have been defending himself, said Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper.

But Piper said he is waiting for police to finish investigating before he decides what to do. If the investigation upholds Buck's account of self-defense, Piper could file no charges - or he could let a grand jury decide.

Buck, who works as a roofer, called 911 and calmly told police: "This guy broke into my house ... He tried to kill me with a sledgehammer, sir...He is lying dead in my kitchen."

Lee North, a 34-year-old friend of Buck, came out of Buck's home Friday morning and said, "That dude died right there on the kitchen floor. The whole kitchen's blood."

North said he saw a trail of blood between the kitchen and a bedroom.

Buck was wearing a white bandage around his head when he came home about 9:30 a.m. to get some belongings.

"Everything's fine. I'm OK. Thank you," he said, waving off news reporters as he climbed into a relative's van.

A next-door neighbor, Chris Perkins, said he heard a loud bang followed by four gunshots. Perkins' wife, Lucinda, described Buck as "very fun, very friendly ... I have no idea why they would pick on him."

Brandenburg lived with his mother on Sixth Street in Hamilton.

During the past decade, he had been cited into Hamilton Municipal Court on more than two dozen offenses including traffic citations, ethnic intimidation, assault, resisting arrest and forgery.

Brandenburg served two state prison terms: for a drug conviction and failing to pay child support. He was last released from prison in May, but was locked up in Resolutions, Butler County's minimum security jail, from July 12 until Feb. 2 for failing to comply with police orders, officials said.

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