"Did, anything go through my mind, yeah , get 'em, get 'em don't let him get away," recallsRoberty Hartley as he re-lives the moment he saw ruben silva-aguilar carrying items out of his home after a break-in. Hartley remembers, "He dropped my gun on the ground and he went running and jumped on the fence I caught 'em and I jumped on his back and started fighting with him."
After a few moments of wrestling in the backyard, Hartley tossed the would-be burglar into his pool. "He said the water was cold and I been in the water around November, December myself the water is cold but I told him he wasn't coming out," Hartley stated jokingly.
Hartley remembers picking up his rifle by stating, "I turned around and found my 30/30 rifle on the ground and picked it up and he spoke pretty good english by saying, don't shoot! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
Hartley and his wife live on a quiet road in rural Lexington County and the question they ask is how did Ruben Silva-Aguilar find them. Hartley thinks he may have been targeted because they live in a wooded area stating, "...He had to be around our house or come down our driveway and case the house out."
While hartley doesn't recommend anyone taking the law into their own hands, he caustiously states, "I don't want anybody else to go out and do what i done but we got to stand up for ourselves." He feels it's time to fight back.