[radio chatter]
So it took a little bit, but the cops eventually
showed up with four cop cars.
MR. BRYAN: They did come into the house.
They asked me to disarm, which I did.
And so they walked around a little bit.
And they said, what makes you think he's in the home still?
And I explained to him, the laundry room was barricaded.
You can't do that from the outside of the laundry room.
It has to be from the inside.
There was a call that one of our neighbors down the end
of our street had reported that they
had seen some blood and muddy footprints on their driveway.
So they sent their rookie cop down to check this out.
They were, like, not too concerned at the time.
Well, when the rookie cop came back, he goes,
Mr. Bryan, something ain't right.
He had actually followed a trail of mud, blood,
up every single home in our neighborhood up to our home.
I had not even seen some of the evidence on the front porch
and the side of the house.
But he came and he asked to borrow a ladder.
He did a couple of little hand motions with one of his hands.
And at that time, it all broke loose.
[yelling]
I'm in the kitchen.
I heard yelling, demands from the police officers
to put your hands up. Show me your hands.
Show me your hands.
Wasn't talking very nice, of course.
And I remember I just sort of stepped out of the door.
I said, whatever you do, do not bring him through my home.
Take him through the back fence.
I didn't want this guy in my home.
Talking to my neighbor, kind of filling her in on what
was going on.
And I just look at my house, and I see
the cops bringing out a man.
The man just looked extremely muddy, just covered in mud.
MR. BRYAN: I think he had a pair of shorts on, barefooted.
Had some cuts and bruises on him.
His feet had been chewed up, I guess, when he was going--
walking across this creek.
And it was low tide in this marshy area.
I guess he had stepped on some shells and stuff.
I noticed how young he looked, just
same age as one of my sons.
And I guess, being a mom, my heart went out to him.
[phone rings]
MR. BRYAN: I get a phone call on my cell phone.
It was a police officer. I answer the phone.
Yes, Mr. Bryan.
The young man wants to speak to you.
I was like, what young man?
He goes, the young man we arrested.
He wants to talk to you.
I approached the car, and he looked up at me.
I'll never forget the look on his face.
He goes, thank you for not shooting me.
I said, buddy.
I said, if I would have seen your face,
I would have shot you.
He goes, I know you would have, but thank
you for not shooting me.
And at this time, I was like, what were you thinking?
What's going on, man?
Well, the young man was--
I guess been doing some serious drugs.
He thought people were trying to chase him down to hurt him.
And he just wanted to hide.
He was actually running for his life.
He took my home as refuge.
SAMUEL BRYAN: When everything sort of died down,
the adrenaline went away, I just wanted to take a shower,
and so I could move on with my life.
I literally went to the shower and I just cried
because the event was over.
Thank God that he wasn't armed, that he
wasn't there to hurt us, but if he was,
I still went through the door.
If I would have burst through the laundry room door,
and he was up there waiting on me with a gun,
it would have been a completely different story.
Phew.
So I learned a lot about my dad that morning,
the way that he protected the family the way that he did.
I can use that for my wife, for my child
that's about to be born.
I know how to protect my house.
I was prepared to shoot him.
Thank God I did not.
Just by the grace of God, that could be one of our boys.
And I'm just so thankful that it turned out the way it did.
Until this, I'd never heard what a phrogger
was, never heard the term.
But it looks like we had a phrogger
going from house to house, and the phrog
ended up at our house.
[chuckles]