When suspected burglar Cleophus Ward’s two car tires went flat, police say he decided to slip into a northwest Atlanta home.
But what he likely didn’t expect was to be held at knifepoint by one of the homeowners.
Ward, 36, of Atlanta, was booked into the Fulton County jail on criminal trespass charges after police said he sneaked into a home on Ridgemore Road through the garage, which had been left open.
Police said Elizabeth Allen had just gotten back from a run at 6 a.m. on Oct. 17 when she told them Ward was inside with her husband, Luke Allen.
“When I entered the home, I saw the suspect on the ground and Mr. Luke Allen standing near him with a knife,” Atlanta police Officer Dominick Degiovanna wrote in his report.
Luke Allen told police he heard someone in the house and told Ward he had a gun and ordered him to the ground.
Once Luke Allen saw Ward was on the ground, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and kept Ward there until officers arrived, according to the police report.
Police quickly handcuffed Ward, who identified himself to authorities as “Chicoby Bates” and said an accomplice was inside the home.
Once officers discovered no one else was inside — and determined Ward’s real identity — he was taken to the Fulton County jail.
Atlanta police searched the broken-down car, which belonged to Ward’s mother, and found clothes and furs.
Ward also faces a charge of giving a false name to a law enforcement officer.
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