Man, 74, Slain as He Surprises Burglar in Home

In the 33 years Lyle Glasgow has been living on Glover Court in Chula Vista, he can only recall two minor break-ins to houses on the tree-lined cul-de-sac populated mostly by retirees.

But all that changed Tuesday when William Warden, a 74-year-old retired jeweler, got up in the pre-dawn hours to use the bathroom and was shot to death when he surprised a burglar.

Warden came face-to-face with the robber in his living room at 3:30 a.m. He yelled for his wife, Nola, to call the police, then was shot several times, including once in the chest, according to Lt. Merlin Wilson of the Chula Vista Police Department.

The bandit, who fled via a back door into a canyon behind the house, remains at large, police said.

Warden was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center, where he died about an hour later, Wilson said.

With him, neighbors say, died the sense of security they felt in the close-knit community where neighbors shared recipes, barbecued and helped each other through tough times.

“It makes you scared, but you can’t move every time something like this happens,” said Glasgow, a 78-year-old retired welder who watched the Wardens move into their two-story home 25 years ago. “Nothing ever happens down here,” said Doug Sloane, who lives two doors away from the Warden home. “His murder was a shock and it could have been us. Who knows why he picked that house instead of ours?”