Park Slope Woman Refuses To Back Down When Confronted By Burglar

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- When a Brooklyn woman realized that a thief walked into her home, she didn't get scared.

She got mad and refused to back down.

Heather Chaplin's summer sanctuary, a picturesque loft in Park Slope, was spoiled Monday morning when she looked up from the book she is writing to find herself face to face with an intruder.

"The first thing that went through my head was, 'Does he have a gun?'" Chaplin told CBS 2's Jessica Schneider on Thursday night.

Police said the 52-year-old burglar, Felix Solivan, has been busted six times before.

"I peaked around and I saw this guy taking jewelry boxes off my dresser and putting them into a bag," Chaplin said.

They were family heirlooms and she said she was determined not to let him get away with them.

"I got him by the collar of his shirt and I kind of got him up against a wall," Chaplin said.

The suspect broke free and ran out the door, but Chaplin wasn't far behind.

"I was just screaming, 'Somebody call the police, that guy was in my house, he's a thief!'" Chaplin said.

An off-duty cop just happened to be getting his prescription filled at a nearby pharmacy when he heard Chaplin's cries for help. He saw the suspect around the corner. He then tackled him, pinned him to the ground and held him for police.

"To hear that somebody stepped up, made me feel really good," neighbor Mindy Phillips said.

Word has gotten out in the neighborhood and people, including police, are praising Chaplin's actions.

"Police were just like, 'Have you ever thought about joining the police force?'" Chaplin said.

Chaplin insisted it wasn't bravery, just gut instinct that might have just put an end to a career criminal.

"If this guy has been going around stealing for the past 15 years, then yeah, I'm glad to have helped in some way," she said.

Solivan was indicted on burglary charges Thursday.

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