Awakened early Monday morning by the sounds of glass breaking and his dogs barking, a Poplar Bluff, Mo., man found another man allegedly damaging property outside his home and fired multiple rounds, striking him once.
A call came into the Butler County Sheriff's Department just before 4:30 a.m. Monday from Paul Duckett, who reported a man was "breaking windows out of his vehicles and house" in the 500 block of County Road 526, explained Chief Deputy Wes Popp.
Duckett, he said, further reported he had fired several shots and thought he had hit the suspect.
"We got there two minutes after the call," Popp said.
Deputy Adam Younger, Popp said, found the suspect, identified as Kevin Eugene Hayes, 54, of Williamsville, Mo., walking down the road and took him into custody.
Hayes, who had been shot in the arm, was taken to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment.
As Hayes was being treated, deputies reportedly spoke with Duckett, 79, and his wife.
According to Popp, a front window in the Ducketts' home was broken, as well as windows in two of their vehicles.
"That's what woke him up," Popp explained. "He sees the guy from the house ... He said when he came out he fired several shots at the individual.
"He thought he was trying to break in and believed he had struck the suspect."
Duckett, Popp said, had "told him to stop. He said (Hayes) was just wigged out of his mind.
"He said he was afraid; he didn't know what (Hayes) was going to do. He thought he was trying to get back in the house."
Duckett, Popp said, fired four rounds from a .22-caliber rifle.
Although it was dark, "it was starting to get light," and Duckett "could see him" when he fired the shots, Popp said.
Duckett, he said, was standing in the grass in front of his house when he fired toward Hayes who was an estimated 60 to 70 feet away.
"(Hayes) was ripping out the wiring from his gate," described as an electric gate to Duckett's driveway, said Popp, who indicated the gate was closed at the time.
Hayes, according to Popp, was found to be "out of his mind. He had taken something.
"He was saying people were in the woods all around the yard, trying to kill him."
Deputies, Popp said, don't know where Hayes came from or how to he got to the Duckett house.
Hayes was deemed fit for confinement after he was treated, said Popp, who indicated the bullet wasn't removed given its location.
When the bullet hit Hayes' arm, "it run up and stopped just underneath his collar bone," said Popp.
Hayes subsequently was booked at the Butler County jail on suspicion of first-degree property damage and first-degree trespassing.
A $5,000 cash-only warrant also reportedly was issued by Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett for Hayes, who was out on bond on unrelated charges of first-degree burglary and third-degree assault.