This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A Salt Lake City man who confronted a pair of alleged home burglars — and shot one of them in the abdomen — ended up in jail Thursday on suspicion of aggravated assault.

Glen Decker, 51, and his wife, who have been caretaking the vacant home of his elderly mother-in-law, became aware that someone had been breaking into the home, located near 1100 E. Harvard Ave. (about 1150 South), according to police Detective Veronica Montoya.

Leaving the back door — broken from a past intrusion — unsecured, Decker and his wife, both armed, were waiting when the burglary suspects, a man and woman, showed up just before 10 p.m. on Wednesday, police said.

The husband and wife confronted the suspects and demanded that they wait for the police. The female suspect did; the male suspect did not.

A probable cause statement notes that the male suspect pushed past Decker, and with his hands up, tried to back out the door, and when he refused demands to stop, Decker shot him in the stomach.

The male suspect then fled outside, getting stuck in a tree when his backpack got entangled in the branches, and then fleeing again when he got loose.

Decker told police that he then "unloaded the rest of the bullets at a car the suspect drove away in. The wounded man later turned up at a hospital, where he was under guard following surgery, in serious condition.

Montoya said Decker was arrested because the male suspect was unarmed, did not apparently pose a threat to the caretakers' safety, and could have been allowed to escape.

The 46-year-old female suspect, Paulette Gray, was booked into jail on suspicion of burglary.

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