Pastor Heroically Confronts Thief Who Assaulted Elderly Neighbor

A Houston pastor is being credited as a hero after confronting an alleged thief who assaulted his elderly neighbors during a home invasion.

Pastor Heath Haynes, who works with the home church network 'The Bridge HTX' and recently moved his family to the neighborhood, was seen on a surveillance video intervening during a break-in.

“If it wasn’t for him, we’d probably be dead,” Sharon Koehn, one of the victims, told KTRK last week following the incident took place on June 15. The suspect, identified as Shane Jennings, was reported to have forced his way into the home of Sharon and her husband, Earl, after initially knocking on their door.

Jennings reportedly pushed his way through Sharon as she attempted to close the door and shoved Earl onto the ground. Haynes then came out of his home after he realized there was an issue.

“Looking through the window, I could see Earl being on the ground, coat rack over his chest, man rifling through his pocket,” Haynes told KTRK. “I’m banging on the door.”

Surveillance footage shows Haynes grab Jennings in the driveway and ask him, "What do you think you're doing, man?"

“You’re beating that man up? Hey, put it down! Put it down! Put it down!” Haynes added as he tried to get Jennings to drop the keys and wallet he allegedly stole from Earl at the time.

Jennings then grabbed a large tree branch, which he used to swing at Haynes, who ceased his response so no one else would be hurt. Jennings then stole the Koehns' car and drove through a neighbor's fence, two backyards and another driveway before crashing into a parked car and causing damage to the brick exterior of the home where the collision took place.

Jennings was arrested later in the day of the incident -- at which point he had allegedly crashed into at least one police vehicle -- and faces six felony charges, including aggravated assault of an elderly person and assault of a peace officer.