Family Dog Scares Away Intruder Who Broke Into Charlotte Home

Dogs. Man's best friend and a constant companion. For one Charlotte family, however, they can add watchdog and protector to the list of names for their favorite furry family member after he recently scared away a home intruder.

Martin Jacobs was asleep in his East 7th Street home, near Elizabeth, early Monday morning (July 26) when he heard some strange noises coming from inside the house. The loud noises turned out to be a man who had broken into the home through an open window, WCNC reports.

"I heard creaking of the floor, I saw flashing lights of a flashlight," said Jacobs. "So I called out really loud, 'Hey! Who's in my house?'"

That's when Jacobs' golden retriever, Gus, went to work. Because of renovations going on in the home, the two were sleeping in the kitchen. When Gus heard the commotion, he ran down the hall and began barking, scaring the intruder out of the home.

"I think the individual had no intention of harming me," he said. "Just saw that the home was likely not occupied since we're doing this work."

The intruder was captured on Jacobs' home surveillance video walking around the porch before finding a window that was unintentionally left open and climbing inside. Jacobs has plans for the future to keep a situation like this from happening again.

"Leaving the lights on, making it seem like someone is here, taking the extra precautions to check the windows at night," said Jacobs. "We have an alarm system but we don't have sensors on the windows. That might be something we change in the future."

Despite the "scary situation," Jacobs knows his beloved companion will be there for him, saying, "Gus will take care of me."