Armed man defends his house

A Yuba City man "tired" of being burglarized prevented a break-in at his house, firing several shots at the pickup of one suspected burglar and holding another at gunpoint until Sutter County sheriff's deputies arrived, a department spokeswoman said Wednesday.

"I wasn't a hero. I just did what I thought I had to do," said David Massey, who lives in the 3900 block of O'Banion Road. "I just wish I got both of them."

Massey was awakened around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday by the sound of hammering.

"I just happened to be sleeping. I was taking a nap," he said. "Fortunately, I heard them or they would have come into the house and hit me in the head with a hammer."

Massey also saw another person looking into his house through windows.

Massey said he has been burglarized four times in the 16 years he's lived on O'Banion. His house had been broken into twice before and items have been stolen from his property two other times.

"I've been burglarized before in the past, and I'm tired of it," he said.

Massey said he's not aware that any suspects were arrested in the earlier burglaries.

Armed with a handgun, Massey went out a side door and confronted a man at his front door, said Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Brenda Baker.

The unidentified man then ran to a silver Dodge truck and sped away, with Massey firing three shots at the pickup's tires.

Massey then went around to the back of the house, where he found a woman. Massey detained her at gunpoint until deputies arrived, Baker said.

Desaraie Carol Parsons, 30, of Woodland, was arrested and booked into Sutter County Jail on suspicion of attempted burglary and conspiracy.

The male suspect, described as being in his 20s, is still at large.

"I happen to have a gun. Wouldn't have gone out there without it," Massey said.

Confronting burglars with a weapon is something "that's a judgment call that has to be made by individuals on a case-by-case basis," Baker said.

Massey said he was just defending himself.

"Fortunately, they didn't have guns," he said.

Massey said he's been burglarized so much because his secluded house is a "sitting duck."

The last theft occurred 3 1⁄2 years ago, he said.

"I drove in Christmas day in the evening, and there were people in the house," he said. "They got past me in their car. They got quite a bit of merchandise."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Robert LaHue at 749-4713 or rlahue@appealdemocrat.com.