PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man police said tried to break into the same house at least twice in two days was in the Clallam County jail Tuesday after one of the people living in the home kept the man at bay with a shotgun until police arrived.
Richard Allen Smith, 37, was booked into the Clallam County jail early Tuesday morning for investigation of two counts of residential burglary, said Port Angeles Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith, who is no relation.
“I just did whatever anybody would do to protect their family,” said Clint Lowery, who lives in the home in the 1300 block of South N Street in west Port Angeles with his fiancee, their 2-year-old daughter, brother and sister-in-law.
Lowery said he had noticed the man, later identified as Richard Allen Smith, walking across his lawn at about a little before 2 a.m. Tuesday and met him at the front door with his shotgun.
The man went to his knees without a fight, Lowery said.
Lowery said his 2-year-old daughter was sleeping in her room fewer than 10 feet away from the front door at the time.
Deputy Chief Smith said police initially were called to the house on N Street at 6 a.m. Monday because of a report of a stranger acting suspiciously near the front door of the home.
Lowery said he called police after his brother saw the man on the front porch.
Lowery said that when he was confronted, the man — whom neither he nor his brother had ever seen before — was not able to give a straight answer as to why he was there and eventually left.
Lowery and his brother gave a detailed description of the man to police officers, Smith said.
Officers, however, were not able to find a man matching that description during a search of the surrounding neighborhood.
The next morning, police were called at 1:20 a.m. to the same home because of another report of a man trying to force open one of the home’s doors, Deputy Chief Smith said.
Lowery was not able to get a good look at the man, Smith said.
Roughly 40 minutes later, police were called to the house again and found Lowery holding the man at gunpoint with a 12-gauge shotgun on the house’s porch, Smith said.
Based on the man’s description and other information, Deputy Chief Smith said, police believe Richard Allen Smith was responsible for both early morning attempted burglaries, though no motive has been determined.
“Why was the guy going to come back two different times? I don’t know,” Brian Smith said.
He added that Lowery did not report anything missing from the house or that Richard Allen Smith was actually able to get inside.
Lowery said he and his family have lived in the home, which his sister and husband own, for about five years.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
