Man Shoots Home Intruder, Intruder Then Sues

Imagine a stranger is trying to get into your home. That person ends up in your home. That person is 6 foot 4. What do you do? Well, Joe Balistreri took action to protect his family. He shot the intruder.

I actually had something similar to this happen when I was a kid. It was just myself, my mom and my sister at home. We noticed a man jump down a ledge in our back yard and made his way to the side garage window. I remember this was around Christmas because our Christmas lights were plugged into the garage, through a crack in the garage window. Using that crack in the window, the man started to let himself in. My mom, ever so brave simply said "Excuse me" and that was enough. It startled the guy, and he walked away.

But that could have gone way worse. And Balisteri wasn't taking any chances with his family at risk at 4:15 in the morning. So he fired three shots.

The intruder however sued, because he claimed he was intoxicated and thought he was making his way into a friends house. “There was no knocking, there was no announcement, there was no nothing,” Balistreri said.

No actual charges were filed in the case, but the intruder did file a civil suit. Thankfully the judge sided with Balisteri. But even with the judge siding with him, he has mounting legal fees he owes. He has set up a GoFundMe page if you would like to help donate to his cause. You can find that page here.