REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Ron Henrick is 79 and in his retirement likes to work as a clown and as Santa Claus every Christmas.
When one of his neighbors busted into his house, Santa grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun.
"I was going to shoot his a**," said Henrick.
He had awoken to noise Friday morning and found a man -- his own neighbor -- stealing his TV. He grabbed his gun while the 5-10, 220-pound intruder grabbed his stationary bike.
"When he was coming at me, I was coming at him with the gun. He grabbed (the bike) and threw it at me and I (closed the door) and it tore up everything. Lucky I did that, because it probably would've killed me," he said.
Henrick said the thief fled his home after that.
"I told the cop, I said, 'If I would've shot him it would've made a hell of a mess with a 12-gauge,'" he said.
Henrick said he hasn't had any problems like this in the 30 years he's lived in his Redford Township neighborhood. However, he's a little afraid now because the man also tried to get into his garage. That's where he keeps his 1933 Plymouth.
Henrick has owned the car for nearly 60 years. He claims that on separate occasions the passenger seat was once occupied by Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.
"She rode in it in 1957 when I was in Hollywood California," he said.
Henrick has a warning if his neighbor comes back for the car.
"He's a dead man. I'll get him, because this is my pride right here," he said.
The suspect remains in jail. Police already have connected him to another home invasion in which he stole a TV on the same street. He's expected to be arraigned on charges this weekend.
Neighbors, of course, want him out of the community.