Homeowner Nabs Burglar at Wolcott Home

 A homeowner in Wolcott was hailed Wednesday as a hero for interrupting a break-in in his own home and holding the suspect until the police could arrive.

Police in Wolcott arrested Thomas Deleo after they claimed he tried to quickly steal a purse from inside a home on Sky Hill Drive.  After Deleo broke through the back door, he didn't get far.  In fact he was trapped there until police arrived.

"This was our here right here - she's the one who woke us up,"  homeowner Michael Lokites said of his pet dog, Miko.  It was Miko's bark that sent Lokites downstairs around 2 a.m. 

Lokites said he heard the sound of broken glass and he thought someone had thrown something through the window of his home.  But when he turned around, he saw something else.

"I see an arm coming through here," Lokites said pointing as the glass in his door.  "So I grabbed his arm, twisted it, and just held him there."

Lokites then shouted for his wife Ellen to call 911.

"I was upstairs in the bedroom, and I could hear my husband hollering," Ellen Lokites explained.  "Then I didn't hear anything, didn't hear the dog barking, didn't hear anything," she added.

Michael was still downstairs - holding on to the burglar's arm until officers arrived and took Deleo into custody. 

"It is unusual in the event that the homeowner, very brave person, was able to apprehend the suspect," said Domenic Angiolillo, Captain for the Wolcott Police Department.

Angiolillo said Deleo was released from jail a little more than a month ago.  His record includes burglary, robbery and assault. 

The Lokites said they are just thankful Deleo wasn't able to add their home to his list of burglaries, and they're thankful Miko woke them up.

"If it wasn't for her, we would have never caught the burglar," Michael Lokites said.

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