Homeowner takes down resistant burglar

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A homeowner who walked in on a burglary in progress in his Northeast Heights home decided the guy wasn't going to get away with it and detained him until police arrived while fighting off an attack in the process.

Louis Chabai arrived at his home on General Chennault NE on Wednesday morning to find 31-year-old Nicholas Atencio inside.

Chabai says they starred at each other for a second and then Atencio bolted for the back door.

Chabai gave chase wrestling with Atencio in the back yard until the pair fell over a wall.  Chabai says prescription drugs from his home fell out of Atencio's pocket along with his son's $1,000 watch.

Chabai says Atencio begged him to let him go saying he had a young child at home but Chabai wasn't sympathetic.

As the pair wrestled through two yards a neighbor heard the commotion and called police.

At one point Chabai says Atencio pulled a screwdriver from his pocket and tried to stab him, but he got it away. That's when Atencio grabbed a nearby pair of scissors and tried to use that to stab him.  Again he was unsuccessful.

An officer arrived seconds later and took Atencio into custody.

Chabai soon learned that Atencio is one of his neighbors living just three blocks away in a house with his parents.

Atencio is now on a no-bond hold at the Metropolitan Detention Center charged with residential burglary and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.  He has a history of burglary, theft and drugs.

Chabai says Atencio tried to keep his fingerprints out of his house by putting socks on his hands.

Obviously Atencio didn't count on Chabai coming home.