One family credits God for sparing the life of a home invader who came face to face with their daughter during a home invasion in Cherokee Village Aug. 7.
“My daughter had walked out of her bedroom because our dogs were throwing a fit, she met the man face to face and was surprised there was a strange man in our home. He was twitching and acting erratically and she warned him he only had a few seconds to leave before our dog would bite him,” homeowner Brandy Timmons said.
According to a report from the Cherokee Village Police Department, the man who entered the home was 36-year-old Nolen Terry McBryde.
Brandy said she could hear her daughter talking just seconds before she began yelling for her parents to alert them there was an intruder.
“My husband grabbed the gun and we headed down the hallway and our dog had shown his teeth, the man ran through our kitchen and jumped off the back deck, which is about 10 feet off the ground, with another dog he’d brought into our house that you could tell just had puppies,” Brandy said.
After sprinting off the porch, the man the attempted to run, but was soon stopped by Eddie Timmons who held him at gunpoint until authorities arrived.
When authorities arrived, Cherokee Village Police Officer Shane Mullins attempted to speak with McBryde, however the man was so impaired he could not recall his own name. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Sharp County Detention Center.
Brandy said the man had removed his shirt in her home and dropped it near her daughter’s bedroom.
“He had a Subway shirt on and she found it right by her door. We’re assuming he was looking for a shower or needed something because of the way he was acting. He’d taken his shirt off. That led me to believe he was in the house looking for a shower or some food or something because he had this dog with him,” Brandy said when thinking back over the bizarre series of events.
Brandy gave credit to God for keeping her home safe, and said she was thankful of the homes the man could have entered, he chose hers.
“It was a shock at first, an adrenaline rush and all I could think was we had to get this man caught because, my next-door neighbor has three autistic children and is a single mother and what if it had been her house? So afterward, I started shaking because I thought about how this strange man came face to face with my daughter and it could have ended badly,” Brandy said. “I immediately started praying and thanking God and also praying for that man because I’m a recovering addict. I’ve been clean for 10 year’s but I’ve been that man, I never broke into anyone’s home, but I’ve needed a bath, food, shelter before. He needs just as many prayers as we did. I am so thankful in a way for how it went down, because if my husband would have been the first one and seen a man standing in our living room, my husband is a Vietnam veteran, and that man would have been dead. He doesn’t realize how lucky he is and that God saved him for a reason.”
When asked if she knew how McBryde entered her home, Brandy said the only point of entry available to him would have been for him to climb the ten feet onto the deck with the dog and enter through the sliding glass door.
“My husband harps all the time to keep the doors locked. Even though we live in a small town you just never know. I grew up my whole life not locking my doors, and I never thought about it but our doors were locked. He came in through the patio on our back deck where the glass door is. We didn’t know how easily it could be opened even though it was locked. That has been remedied,” Brandy said.
She said this experience has heightened her family’s sensitivity to keeping their home secure but has not robbed them of their peace.
“Keep your doors locked, because this is happening in our town. This is here. That man needs to understand God saved his life that day and he needs to turn to Jesus before he ends up dead,” Brandy said. “Be aware this can happen to you because I never thought for one second that it could happen in this little community. I just thank God because it could have been a lot worse. I would say people need to check the security around their homes. Get new locks if you have to, dead bolts. We’re getting cameras now; we changed all the locks. We’ve put a dowel rod behind the sliding glass door.”
McBryde is currently being held in the Sharp County Detention Center charged with public intoxication and breaking or entering.
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
