Collier County, FL

A mother in Collier County sprang into action after catching a burglar in the act.  She chased the criminal through the neighborhood and cornered him until deputies got there... all while wearing flip flops!

Joelle Parks reports...

As a mother of three, Betsy Stibler is used to waking up in the middle of the night.  But Thursday, she got an unwelcome surprise.

Stibler said, "After 2 in the morning, my two year old decided he needed some milk, so I got up and went to the kitchen to get him some milk and as I walked back by the glass door to the front porch, I saw a man in my parent's car."

At first, she thought the man was her father.  But at another glance, she knew that it was a stranger, so she called 911 then took off.

She said, "I went and told my dad that I was going after him, grabbed my shorts and flip flops and took off down the street and chased him down."

But it wasn't easy to catch the man at first.  Stibler said, "I went down this way and saw him go across the neighbor's garage door."

The chase didn't end there.  Betsy and the man went past another few homes, down a jogging trail, then...

She said, "We got to the bridge and he stopped on the top of the bridge and he said to me 'you better back off,' and I said 'or what?'" I said the cops are coming down the street, you better run because they're going to arrest you and if I catch you first, I'm going to beat you up."

She didn't have to.  He kept running until he was cornered between two homes and a wall.

Collier County Sheriff's Deputies arrived and arrested this man, Roy Hansen, for burglary.

Deputies praise this woman for her bravery.

She said, "Not brave, just a mother who was mad enough to do something about it."

Stibler says she recently started jogging to get into shape and to honor her father after his heart transplant.