VENTURA : Resident Holds Intruder for Police

Lotar Ziesing was frightened when he heard footsteps on his back porch Tuesday night, he said, but his fright did not keep him from jumping the intruder and screaming for 10 minutes until the Ventura police arrived.

James Wallace Sandner, 32, was arrested on suspicion of attempted burglary, with about $200 worth of antique silver jewelry in his pocket, police said. He was booked into the Ventura County Jail and faces arraignment today in Ventura County Superior Court.

Ziesing was going into his residence on Ramona Street near Ventura Avenue at 7:50 p.m. when he heard a noise, he said.

“I heard movement. It was uncanny, like I couldn’t believe it . . . but then I heard it again,” Ziesing said. “It was so frightening and I thought, ‘What should I do?’ But this instinct took over when I saw him, and I jumped on him.”

Ziesing said he pulled the intruder’s shirt and coat over his head, pinning his arms together, and held his head to the porch.

“I screamed for 10 minutes at the top of my lungs for my neighbor, but he didn’t hear me,” Ziesing said.

“I saw some people at the nearby car wash and I screamed for them to call the police about 10 times, but finally another neighbor from around the alley way came. He called the police.”

About 10 officers answered the call, Ziesing said.