Home invader sent fleeing, but his pants stay behind
When a self-described "old, fat bartender" confronted a burglar in his house early Sunday, he got the suspect in a bear hug, intending to hold him until police arrived.
As they wrestled on the floor for three to five minutes, the intruder begged to be let go, appeared as if he would cry and then squirmed out of his shoes and pants before running out of the house in a hooded sweat shirt and underwear, according to reports.
The cell phone he left behind in his pants helped officers identify him.
Police said they found Benjamin C. Hoppe, 18, less than two hours later, hiding in a nearby wooded area. He was wearing a sweatshirt, red boxer shorts and a white sock on his left foot.
According to reports, Hoppe was lying face down in tall grass with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head; he repeatedly asked police: "How long were you guys looking for me, because I was in a really good hiding spot."
Hoppe was charged Monday afternoon in Washington County Circuit Court with burglary, a felony; receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor; and possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor. He faces total imprisonment of more than 13 years if convicted. He was released from the Washington County jail Monday on a $2,500 signature bond.
Michael Rieger, 55, returned to his home in West Bend from a part-time bartending job shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday and saw the front door of the house open.
"I thought the wind blew it open," he said Monday.
Rieger walked inside and saw light from a flashlight in the basement. A man wearing a hooded sweat shirt walked to the foot of the basement stairs and saw Rieger.
The intruder then ran into an attached garage, Rieger said, but returned to the inside of the home after he could not find an exit.
The burglar then rushed up the stairs and attempted to get past the 250-pound Rieger. The homeowner grabbed the intruder and pinned him against a wall, Rieger said. Rieger's wife, Lori, had been asleep upstairs and heard the struggle. She saw the two men near the front door and called 911.
Rieger got the intruder in a bear hug, a hold he has used as a bartender at the Knights of Columbus Hall in West Bend to stop patrons from fighting, he said. The two fell to the floor.
"I'm an old, fat bartender," the 5-foot, 8-inch Rieger said in explaining how he pinned the younger man to the floor. "I laid on top of him." Hoppe is described in reports as 6 foot 1, weighing 160 pounds.
According to a police report, "Rieger stated the male began begging for him to let go." Rieger and the intruder wrestled inside the front door for several minutes before the owner's grip slipped to the suspect's legs. The young man then squirmed out of his pants and shoes and ran from the home.
Besides the shoes, pants and cell phone, something else was left behind by the intruder.
According to police, an officer found "a large quantity of fecal matter on the interior of the pants," according to the police report. On the threshold of the door, too. And on the porch.
Officers also found several small items likely stolen from nearby vehicles - a radar detector, GPS unit and prescription bottle for Hydrocodone.
The burglar apparently did not have enough time to take anything from the Rieger home before being detected.
West Bend police Monday said they were investigating Hoppe's possible involvement in other recent crimes.
