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http://www2.scnow.com/news/2012/jul/24/gun-toting-blenheim-granny-scares-burglars-ar-4199109/
There are certain people criminals should not mess with: martial arts experts, superheroes and Ruby Hodge of Blenheim.
When two would-be burglars broke into the 89-year-old widow’s house Monday on S.C. Highway 38 just outside of Blenheim, they probably didn’t expect to find Hodge and her .38-caliber pistol waiting for them.
Standing in her bedroom next to her pink and white floral bedspread, Hodge is just over 5 feet tall and weighs maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. However, just after 8 a.m. Monday, she was more than two grown men could handle.
“I decided I would go see who it was,” Hodge said, recalling she heard someone knock twice on her back door just off the kitchen of her small house. “But before I moved, they knocked a third time and busted my door open. I said to myself, ‘That’s a break in!’”
The men -- later identified by police as Ronnie Henry Stevenson Jr., 31, of 956 High Point Road in Lydia, and Nelson Hawkins, 42, of 1564 Turnpike Road in Darlington -- were no strangers to the law. Both had lengthy criminal records and were persons of interest on prior burglaries by both Marlboro County and Darlington County sheriffs’ offices.
Their experienced criminal background did them little good against Hodge.
“I got my gun,” she said, reaching under her mattress just as she did Monday morning and pulling out her .38-caliber pistol, fully loaded with six bullets. It belonged to her late husband, who died some 22 years ago. Since then it has just been Hodge and as she showed Stevenson and Hawkins, she can take care of herself.
The two entered Hodge’s home and went to the spare bedroom opposite her own. When they turned around, there stood Hodge, fresh out of bed, holding her sidearm.
“They take off and run,” she said.
Hodge immediately pressed her lifeline emergency device she wears around her neck and within minutes, Marlboro County Sheriff Fred Knight arrived on the scene.
“I was just amazed,” he said, laughing. “When she told me she met the intruders with a handgun pointed at them, she said they went out faster than they came in. She is my hero!”
The men were later apprehended by U.S. Marshals and Darlington County deputies after a passerby told the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office they saw the suspects’ vehicle parked in Hodge’s driveway and took down the license plate number.
This isn’t the first time Hodge was the victim of a burglary. Two weeks ago, two young women broke into her home and stole all her jewelry while Hodge was at church with her family. The women cut through the screen on her front porch and broke into her front door.
That door is now fixed and Hodge – who turns 90 in October – said her son will help her replace the back door damaged in Monday’s attack soon. In spite of her recent experiences, she said there aren’t any plans to change her living arrangements.
“I feel safe,” she said, smiling, her revolver sitting on the kitchen table in front of her.
There are certain people criminals should not mess with: martial arts experts, superheroes and Ruby Hodge of Blenheim.
When two would-be burglars broke into the 89-year-old widow’s house Monday on S.C. Highway 38 just outside of Blenheim, they probably didn’t expect to find Hodge and her .38-caliber pistol waiting for them.
Standing in her bedroom next to her pink and white floral bedspread, Hodge is just over 5 feet tall and weighs maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. However, just after 8 a.m. Monday, she was more than two grown men could handle.
“I decided I would go see who it was,” Hodge said, recalling she heard someone knock twice on her back door just off the kitchen of her small house. “But before I moved, they knocked a third time and busted my door open. I said to myself, ‘That’s a break in!’”
The men -- later identified by police as Ronnie Henry Stevenson Jr., 31, of 956 High Point Road in Lydia, and Nelson Hawkins, 42, of 1564 Turnpike Road in Darlington -- were no strangers to the law. Both had lengthy criminal records and were persons of interest on prior burglaries by both Marlboro County and Darlington County sheriffs’ offices.
Their experienced criminal background did them little good against Hodge.
“I got my gun,” she said, reaching under her mattress just as she did Monday morning and pulling out her .38-caliber pistol, fully loaded with six bullets. It belonged to her late husband, who died some 22 years ago. Since then it has just been Hodge and as she showed Stevenson and Hawkins, she can take care of herself.
The two entered Hodge’s home and went to the spare bedroom opposite her own. When they turned around, there stood Hodge, fresh out of bed, holding her sidearm.
“They take off and run,” she said.
Hodge immediately pressed her lifeline emergency device she wears around her neck and within minutes, Marlboro County Sheriff Fred Knight arrived on the scene.
“I was just amazed,” he said, laughing. “When she told me she met the intruders with a handgun pointed at them, she said they went out faster than they came in. She is my hero!”
The men were later apprehended by U.S. Marshals and Darlington County deputies after a passerby told the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office they saw the suspects’ vehicle parked in Hodge’s driveway and took down the license plate number.
This isn’t the first time Hodge was the victim of a burglary. Two weeks ago, two young women broke into her home and stole all her jewelry while Hodge was at church with her family. The women cut through the screen on her front porch and broke into her front door.
That door is now fixed and Hodge – who turns 90 in October – said her son will help her replace the back door damaged in Monday’s attack soon. In spite of her recent experiences, she said there aren’t any plans to change her living arrangements.
“I feel safe,” she said, smiling, her revolver sitting on the kitchen table in front of her.
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